Sen. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, who sits next to Fateh on the Senate floor, said they get along well even though they disagree on many issues. “He was surprised how well I treated him,” Abeler said. “He came in with an opinion about Republicans.”
Abeler gives Fateh credit for being a fierce advocate for his district and his community, and for recognizing when he had an advantage he could press.
Indeed, what others call hardball, Fateh calls doing his job.
“These big corporations and these entities that show up to the Capitol, they don’t have a shortage of voices for them; they’re going to be just fine,” Fateh said. “I like to stand up for the working person and the person that historically has been left behind.”
At the end of the 2024 legislative session, Fateh went missing from the Senate for more than 10 hours. At the time, Democrats controlled the chamber by a single vote, and Fateh’s absence brought business to a halt until a deal was reached on his top priority, the setting of minimum pay rates for Uber and Lyft drivers.
Legislators may not have liked what Fateh did, Abeler said, but they couldn’t argue with his logic, or his commitment. “People were angry with him,” Abeler said, “but he played a smart card.”