57,739 votes (64.7%) to her 30,896 (34.6%). Rybak's mayoralty focused mostly on reducing crime, creating jobs, building affordable housing, and balancing the city budget. He regularly attended public events and participated directly in discussions of city issues on his Facebook page. He notably crowd-surfed while mayor, diving from the stage during a "Rock for Democracy" event at the Minneapolis club First Avenue in July 2004. In 2002, Rybak developed the City of Lakes Loppet, a 35-kilometer urban cross-country ski race through Theodore Wirth Park and across Cedar Lake, Lake of the Isles and Lake Calhoun, which ends on the streets of the Uptown Minneapolis. The event attracts nearly 2,000 skiers. Rybak is a skier and has participated in races. Rybak made many public appearances at rallies and protests. In April 2004 he spoke to a rally of striking Metro Transit workers at the Hennepin County Government Center plaza. Like many Twin Cities politicians, he marched in the annual Twin Cities Pride Parade. In his 2005 reelection campaign Rybak defeated challenger (and fellow DFLer) Peter McLaughlin by nearly 25 percentage points, 61.5% to 36.7%. He celebrated with another crowd-surf. In August 2007, after the collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge, Rybak asked Governor Tim Pawlenty and Minnesota state officials to implement its replacement, ensuring that the new bridge would be capable of handling mass transit. Rybak pushed to ensure that future needs and policy considerations would not be ignored in the rush to build a replacement. The resulting plan accommodated a light rail line. Rybak said, "we (the City) have a vision that we believe will be for a bridge that will serve us for many years to come." His role also involved authorizing municipal consent of the final bridge replacement. Rybak was listed as a finalist for the 2008 World Mayor award. In June 2008 Rybak was elected Vice President for Communications of the National Conference of Democratic Mayors. According to DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Rybak was the first mayor of a large U.S. city to endorse Barack Obama's presidential campaign in 2007. Rybak campaigned for Obama and was active in the campaign's youth wing. In January 2009, Rybak announced his intention to run for reelection to a third term. In March 2009, Rybak proposed eliminating the Minneapolis Civil Rights Investigations Division, which was established in 1967 to investigate discriminatory practices as part of the city's Civil Rights