State Representative Kaohly Her stands as St. Paul’s mayor after beating out incumbent Mayor Melvin Carter, despite only jumping into the race in August. The Nov. 4 election marked a historic victory as Her will be the first woman and first Hmong person to serve as mayor in St. Paul. When Her steps into City Hall, the entirety of St. Paul’s city council will be women for the first time as well.
After round one of ranked choice voting, Carter held a slight lead with 40.83% of the vote compared to Her’s 38.4%, but neither had reached the 50% threshold. Her took the lead by fewer than 2,000 votes in the second round of votes.
Despite Carter’s loss on his bid for a third term, Her and Carter have been in communication to ensure a smooth transition of power.
“We have been working with Mayor Carter’s current administration to get what we need in order to have our office up and running. We are really appreciative of his willingness to make sure there is a smooth transition,” Her said.
Carter called for his supporters and for the people of St. Paul to support Her along her journey as well for the betterment of the city.
“At some point it comes time to pass the baton… so I am going to ask all of you, in just the same way that you have held me up, in just the way you’ve supported me, in just the way that you have been a part of the journey we have taken over the past eight years to do that exact same thing for Representative Her as she takes this baton and charges forward,” Carter said in a concession speech the night of the election at the Blackhart Bar.
This election marked a desire from the residents of St. Paul to pass the baton. Junior Sophia Nelson recognized the improvements in St. Paul during Carter’s administration, such as lower crime rates, but also felt the need for a new face in the city council.
“Mayor Carter has done a lot of good things, but I do feel like there was this sentiment of kind of being at a standstill a little bit … there was just a sentiment of it is time for change,” Nelson said.
Her hopes that this victory inspires a sense of optimism and drive to continue to work towards creating a better world for us and future generations.
“I hope that what people see in this election is — whether it was my race, or Mamdani’s race or a race across the country — that we have to always have hope and that democracy only survives if we all continue to participate,” Her said.
The hope does not end at making the city better through policy and initiatives, but also through setting new standards on what can be done. Her acknowledges the importance of ‘firsts’ in many aspects of society.
“Every time one of us breaks that barrier for a first, we open the door for everyone behind us when we have had that first, so I look at it as a symbol of hope as well,” Her said.
With the first all woman St. Paul city council, Her emphasizes the importance of understanding that just because they are all women does not dismiss their diversity of experiences and perspectives.
“We will have times that we will probably not agree, and we will have to work through things together. People should have the same expectation they did when it was all men. People did not expect that all men would get along, but that people would be fighting vigorously to defend their wards in the city,” Her said.
As she prepares to step into this new role, Her takes inspiration from the late Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, Melissa Hortman.
“After Melissa Hortman, who was a friend of mine and was assassinated [on] June, I thought a lot about the words she said about how these seats don’t belong to us and we have to earn the right to represent people,” Her said.
From college students temporarily in St. Paul to families here for the long haul, Her hopes to have an open dialogue with her constituents.
“I want them to know who I am and to hold me accountable,” Her said.
