The Rev. DeWayne Davis wants to be the next Minneapolis mayor
The Rev. DeWayne Davis. Provide photo
By David Pierini, Editor
The Rev. DeWayne Davis is careful not to be the center of his church.
Davis, the lead minister of the historic and influential Plymouth Congregational Church, takes this direction from Ephesians, which states that a pastor’s duty is “to equip the saints for works of ministry.”
Davis, a resident of the Willard-Hay neighborhood, recently announced he will run for mayor of Minneapolis.
As he introduces himself to a larger audience, Davis invites people to lead with him.
“I would not be going into this office alone; I want everybody,” Davis said. “We’re going to need everybody, their skills, talent and imagination. I want to engage in a way that brings everybody from every corner into the room.”
Of the growing field taking on Mayor Jacob Frey, Davis may have the least name recognition. State Sen. Omar Fateh is in the race, as is city Councilwoman Emily Koski, the daughter of a former mayor.
He knows that residents may not know him, but he is gathering a campaign team to help make his qualifications known to voters.
Davis has a resume that includes an economics degree and a lengthy stretch as a Washington legislative aid and policy analyst. He was co-chair of the city’s Community Safety Work Group, which forwarded recommendations for police reform and public safety that, Davis said, Frey primarily ignored.
Davis’s frustration, as well as encouragement from committee colleagues, partially motivated his run for mayor.
Among those suggesting he run was civil rights lawyer Nekima Levy-Armstrong, the committee’s other co-chair. Armstrong routinely saw Davis at social justice rallies and saw his consistent presence as a good sign.
Armstrong appreciated how Davis did not try to tamp down her fierceness during committee work. She observed that he made sure to listen to all of the voices in the room.
“I was thrilled when I learned Rev. Davis was going to be my co-chair,” said Levy-Armstrong, who ran for mayor in 2017. “I knew his qualities as a leader and as someone who’s highly intelligent, thoughtful, well-reasoned, and community-minded.
“I think he would be a positive shift from some of the things we’re currently experiencing, especially with the ongoing conflict between the mayor and the city council.
“People are tired of the failure of our elected leaders to see eye-to-eye. His approach is refreshing. He is not necessarily politically ambitious in the sense that he would use the position as a stepping stone. That means he would be focused squarely on helping improve conditions in the city, particularly those most vulnerable.”
Throughlines
The youngest of 15 children who grew up in one of the poorest counties in Mississippi, Davis is the son of two pastors who kept stiff upper lips to survive the poverty and brutality of the Jim Crow South. Sunflower County was the place where Klansmen abducted Emmett Till before murdering him in a nearby county.
Davis’s father was a Pentecostal pastor who created a safe and loving community for his congregation. Nobody left church hungry, and it was fairly common for random folks to drop by their home for dinner or a bag of food from the family’s pantry. All were welcome.
“As a kid, this was just normal,” Davis said. “You begin to see, as you get older, the extent of my father and the impact he had on me. My father passed away in 2003, and when I went home, I can’t tell you how many people stopped me to say, ‘I needed this, and your father helped me get it.’”
But being a minister was out of the question, and as a gay man, he shied away from a church he believed would not welcome him. He went to Howard University, where he met his husband, Kareem Murphy, and earned degrees in economics and philosophy. He later got a master’s degree from the University of Maryland, and much of his work as a congressional aide revolved around poverty.
One of the congressmen Davis worked for, Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, said Davis oversaw appropriations and worked on a range of pressing issues, from housing, infrastructure, veterans’ care, and LGBTQ+ rights.
“He’s been an excellent community leader for the same reasons he was a great staffer,” said Hoyer, who was Democratic whip when Davis worked for him. “He’s experienced, he’s dependable, he’s principled, and he’s compassionate.”
After a decade as a policy advisor, Davis worked with a political action committee. There, he quickly grew restless and sought a better life-work balance. He contemplated returning to church, and the one he found welcomed everyone. It wasn’t long before he felt a call to attend seminary.
After receiving a Master of Divinity from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington D.C., Davis had hoped to stay near D.C. Still, the church that showed the most interest in him was All of God’s Children Community Church in Minneapolis.
During interviews, Davis traveled to Minneapolis to preach to the congregation. Although initially hesitant, he followed through and wrote a sermon titled “Throw away the guest list.”
He pulled inspiration from the story of Jesus asking his disciples to organize a dinner and inviting the poor to sit down as the guests of honor.
“This is the point of my ministry,” he said. “When we use words like hospitality, we have to include everyone. If you’re going to carry All God’s Children in the church name, we have to throw open the doors.”
Davis preached himself into a job and was pastor at All God’s Children from 2013 to 2020 when Plymouth Congregational Church asked him to become its lead pastor.
On the dawn of a second term with Donald Trump as president, Davis has found himself listening and feeling the fears of immigrant and LBGTQ+ members of his church. Amid these feelings, he declared his candidacy to do more for his adopted city.
‘Investment in people’
Davis is refining his positions on issues now to prepare for the campaign trail. Like the sermons he writes, Davis said his talking points will center basic human dignity at the heart of each issue.
He wants a divided city council to step away from ideological models, listen to each other, and find common ground on which both sides can find ways to serve the city.
Davis understands that cities are hubs for economic growth but worries that that growth often leads to poverty and inequality among a segment of the population.
“It would be derelict of every mayor not to keep that economic growth going, but we know that in trying to attract that growth, we don’t pay enough to the unintended consequences,” Davis said. “We know one of the consequences is inequality, so why not have an intentional conversation with intentional investment (in people)? It’s a different way of operating.
“I want city politics where people can say, ‘I’m a part of that.’”