Retired Hennepin County District Judge Martha Holton Dimick announced her run for Hennepin County attorney Wednesday, citing the police killing of George Floyd in 2020 and an uptick in crime as factors in her decision.
Holton Dimick was appointed to the Hennepin County bench in 2012 by Gov. Mark Dayton and elected twice afterward. She retired Jan. 1 to join the county attorney race, where she faces five challengers.
Holton Dimick said in an interview Wednesday that in the aftermath of Floyd's death the Hennepin County bench wanted to issue a public statement about the matter but was informed by the state Supreme Court that it would undermine the impartiality judges must uphold. As her frustration with keeping quiet on the issue grew, Holton Dimick said, she realized she needed to change careers.
"I just reached the point where I thought I've given as much as I can give" as a judge, she said. "I just felt like I could be more successful ... and meaningful ... if I moved on to the County Attorney's Office."
Floyd, who was handcuffed, died after then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes while colleagues J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane held the rest of his body prone in the street. Then-officer Tou Thao kept a crowd of angry bystanders at bay.
"It was something that impacted us on a very personal level," Holton Dimick said.
Holton Dimick, who lives in north Minneapolis, said her personal and professional life experiences set her apart from the other candidates. She was a single mom who raised her daughter with the help of public assistance and while attending college on the weekends. Her first career was in nursing before she earned her law degree from Marquette University Law School.
"All those experiences helped me understand the numerous constituents of the County Attorney's Office," Holton Dimick said.
The slate of county attorney candidates in this November's election also includes former Hennepin County Chief Public Defender Mary Moriarty, former Minneapolis City Council President and current Assistant Anoka County Attorney Paul Ostrow, Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Saraswati Singh, Richfield City Council Member Simon Trautmann and Minnesota House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced in September that he would not seek re-election. The office, the largest of its kind in the state, oversees 98 attorneys in the civil division and 110 attorneys in the criminal division. The office has an annual budget of $61.9 million for fiscal year 2021. The Hennepin County attorney's annual salary is $195,065.
Holton Dimick said that were she elected, she would not treat the post as "a political football or a stepping stone to higher office." Her campaign priorities include preventing and prosecuting gun violence, improving police-community relations, advocating for fairness in sentencing and working with legislators on a bill to reform arbitration between police officers and their employers so it's easier to fire officers who misbehave.
They also include removing fentanyl-laced drugs from the streets, rehabilitating teenagers in an effort to combat the dramatic spike in carjackings across the metro, improving police training and decriminalizing marijuana possession while rehabilitating addicts.
"My small community in North Minneapolis has averaged nearly one shooting victim per day since mid-2020, a threefold increase over the previous years," Holton Dimick said on her campaign website. "We must do everything in our power to restore safety."
Holton Dimick worked for law firms in the Twin Cities for about 10 years before then-County Attorney Amy Klobuchar hired her as an assistant Hennepin County attorney in 1999. Holton Dimick became Minneapolis' deputy city attorney in 2009.
"She became the first community prosecutor assigned to the Northside, where she collaborated with police, neighborhood associations, faith-based communities, and residents of the fourth precinct to improve public safety," said Holton Dimick's campaign.
Holton Dimick said her experience as a prosecutor in north Minneapolis showed her that partnerships can reduce crime. She voted against last year's failed ballot measure to replace Minneapolis police with a new department of public safety.
"I voted no because we need the police," she said. "We need more of them. I think we need to empower and train good cops to prevent cops from violating the rights of the people they are hired to protect, and I think that can be done."
In April 2020 Holton Dimick was criticized by the Hennepin County Public Defender's Office for appearing at a court hearing via telephone instead of in person despite mandates from the county's chief judge and Chief Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea that judges appear in-person for defendants who were being held in jail. The courts had dramatically scaled back in-person activity at the time due to COVID.
Holton Dimick said she appeared remotely for the bail hearing because she is over 60 and has a history of asthma, and because the matter was not "critical."
"It was right at the peak of COVID," she said. "I was very nervous about appearing in court."
