All seven city council seats in St. Paul are up for grabs this election, and four of them are open seats.
The Democratic Farmer-Labor Party has endorsed candidates in each of the open seats, but they have plenty of challengers. In total, 30 candidates are running for all of the seats. City Council members Mitra Jalali, Rebecca Noecker, and Nelsie Yang, all DFLers, are running for reelection.
On Election Day—Tuesday, November 7—St. Paul voters will also decide whether to raise the city’s sales tax by 1 percent, an issue that City Council candidates are weighing in on in Sahan’s election guide.
The next City Council will also make key decisions on the future of the rent control ordinance that voters passed in 2022. The proposal caps all rent increases at no more than 3 percent each year. But the City Council has since approved some exemptions to the 3 percent cap, including for new constructions.
Some candidates are running on a platform to bring the cap back to 3 percent with no exemptions.
Here’s what St. Paul City Council candidates had to say about a number of key issues. The candidates’ responses have been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
