UPDATE Wednesday 8:45am: Attorney Molly Coleman won election Tuesday to St. Paul City Council Tuesday.
With more than 50 percent of the vote, Coleman won on the first vote count in the ranked-choice election.
Original story follows:
Four candidates face off today in a special election to fill the Ward 4 seat on the St. Paul City Council, which represents the Hamline-Midway, Merriam Park and St. Anthony Park neighborhoods, as well as parts of Macalester-Groveland and Como.
The seat became vacant when former City Council President Mitra Jalali resigned in February, saying she wanted to focus on her physical and mental health. Interim City Council Member Matt Privratsky has served in the seat since then.
Find your polling place by visiting the Minnesota Secretary of State website.
Election results will be updated here every 15 minutes.
The candidates vying for the ward are:
- Chauntyll Allen is a St. Paul school board member and Twin Cities racial justice activist. She is focusing on public safety through street outreach and violence prevention, affordable housing efforts that go beyond “simply building more housing and opening more shelters,” and alleviating youth poverty by creating “pathways to living wage jobs for our youth.”
Allen has raised $8,500 as of June, and is endorsed by St. Paul City Council Member Anika Bowie, four members of the St. Paul school board and racial justice advocate Nekima Levy Armstrong. - Molly Coleman is an attorney and co-founder of People’s Parity Project. Coleman, who has raised the most money of any candidate at $57,000 as of June, is running on a platform of supporting the city’s core services, making zoning changes to build more housing and supporting bike lanes, pedestrian walkways and public transit.
She is endorsed by Mayor Melvin Carter and St. Paul City Council members Saura Jost and Cheniqua Johnson. Coleman is the daughter of former St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, who served from 2006 through 2017. - Cole Hanson is a University of Minnesota public health educator and former president of the Hamline-Midway Coalition. Hanson is endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, and supports requiring large nonprofits, hospitals and universities, which are tax exempt, to pay fees to the city.
Hanson also supports a land value tax to “shift property taxes away from buildings and toward the value of the land itself,” and to “hold big landowners accountable.” Hanson has raised $25,000 as of June, and is endorsed by St. Paul City Council Member Nelsie Yang and Minneapolis City Council Member Robin Wonsley. - Carolyn Will owns a local public relations company and is an activist with Save Our Streets, which opposes the new bike trial and reconstruction on Summit Avenue. Will is running on affordable housing, tree preservation during road construction and public land development projects, and “transparency and accountability” in the city’s budget process. Will has raised $4,500 as of June, and is endorsed by former St. Paul City Council Member Jane Prince.
