A day after her historic election victory as the first Hmong woman to lead St. Paul, state Rep. Kaohly Vang Her fielded a steady stream of media interviews and hugs from supporters in her campaign office.
“I got a couple of hours of sleep, and it has been really just a lot of messaging from people and notes coming in and just congratulating us, encouraging us to keep moving forward and bringing the vision forward,” Her told Sahan Journal.
Her, 52, entered the mayoral race late in the campaign cycle, announcing her bid in August, just three months before Election Day. The announcement threw a curveball in what had been a relatively slow mayoral race, with incumbent Mayor Melvin Carter not facing any serious challengers as he sought his third term.
Those who know Her describe her as hardworking and determined, and say her experience as a state representative has well positioned her to oversee the state’s Capital City. Her has represented St. Paul in District 64A in the Legislature, which includes Macalester-Groveland, Cathedral Hill, Lexington-Hamline and Merriam Park, since 2019.
Her said people had been telling her over the past few years that she should consider running for mayor. She said she decided to take the leap after attending the Rondo Days festival, where she spoke with a couple about the challenges they were facing in St. Paul. She asked the couple if they would consider supporting another mayoral candidate. They said they would if she was the candidate.
“I thought, ‘Okay then, I think maybe it needs to be me, because I’ve had enough conversations, I’ve heard what people need,’” Her said.
She said she was also inspired to run for mayor after the assasination of state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark in June. She said that Hortman always said, “These seats don’t belong to us” and that lawmakers need to work for their spot.
“You have to go out and earn the rights to represent people,” Her said. “That means you knock doors and you talk to people, and that democracy only works if we debate the issues vigorously.”
Childhood and growing up
Her was born in Laos, and came to the United States in the 1970s with her parents and two sisters as refugees after spending time in a refugee camp in Thailand. The family moved first to Illinois and then Appleton, Wisconsin.
Her parents had three more children in the United States, including her younger brother, Paul Vang.
Vang said his sister has always been determined. Growing up, Vang said Her was like his “older brother,” looking out for her younger siblings and the family.
“She was always kind of the jack of all trades, a big brother, a big sister, kind of our family protector, too,” he said. “She was tough, and that’s just how she is. She never took crap from anybody.”
The Vangs were one of few families of color in Appleton, Paul Vang said, and they frequently experienced racist incidents.
“Whenever we got picked on, she would be the one there to defend us,” Vang said.
Her said some people called her racial slurs. Someone once put a dead fish on the family’s doorstep. Her said growing up, she didn’t know any different, and didn’t realize at the time that what she was experiencing was racism.
“I grew up very insulated, and there weren’t a lot of people of color, so it wasn’t like I could talk to other people about their experiences,” she said.
While Her went to college at the University of Wisconsin Madison, the Vang family moved to Minnesota in the 1990s, following aunts and uncles who had settled in the Twin Cities.
Vang said it was “refreshing” to see more people that looked like him, ate the same food and who spoke the same language.
After finishing college, Her moved to North St. Paul to live with her family. She then worked in finance for 15 years, traveling across the country for work.
Vang said his entire family has worked hard over the years. Some of his siblings are engineers and have master’s degrees. Her is currently working on her doctorate in education leadership.
“This is something my parents couldn’t have dreamed up, but we definitely are the American dream,” Vang said.
Vang said that when the results were announced late Tuesday night, he and his siblings cried and held each other. Their parents, who were unable to attend the election night party, are “ecstatic,” Vang said.
“We were right there in the front seat to see her make history,” he said.
Vang said Her has gotten their family more involved in politics. Vang, who lives in New Brighton, said he pays attention more to local races. He often looks up bills that are moving through the Legislature to see which lawmakers are sponsoring and what issues they are working on.
From a career in finance to working at the Capitol
After working in finance, Her worked several other jobs including at the St. Paul and Minnesota Foundation. She was also a stay-at-home mom for her two daughters who are now in their 20s.
She began working in politics as the policy director during Carter’s first term.
In 2018, she was elected into the Minnesota House of Representatives. She said she’s proud of working on bills such as a law that ended child marriage in Minnesota and another that bans employers from asking what an employees previous pay was before they were hired.
“If an employer can ask you what you made at your last job, then women and people of color will constantly be locked in a lower cycle of pay,” she said. “To be able to eliminate that, to try to close that gap in pay, was really important to me.”
She also worked on legislation surrounding English language learners, pollution and gun violence.
Rep. Samantha Vang, D-Brooklyn Center, was elected to the legislature alongside Her, as the first two Hmong American women in the Minnesota House.
“I’ve always seen her as basically my sister, my Hmong sister from the other side of the river,” Vang said. “She’s making history again.”
The two representatives were also among several co-founders of the Minnesota Asian and Pacific Caucus at the Legislature. The group has advocated for issues facing the state’s Asian Pacific community, which Vang said has helped pass bills such as one that granted some veterans benefits to Hmong and Lao soldiers who fought with the United States military in Laos during the Vietnam War.
A fast-paced campaign
Her said her campaign was a “blur of hard work” and she hit the ground running right away. With only a few months until the election, she had to act fast.
Hnu Vang, Her’s campaign manager, said the campaign prioritized field work like door-knocking to reach voters. She said that the team in total knocked on about 40,000 doors.
“You can fundraise the most money, but if you’re not visible, you’re not out there doing the hard work that you need to be doing, like door knocking and phonebanking, you’re not going to win,” Vang said.
Her said her family also helped in the campaign. Her husband set himself a goal to knock on 200 doors every week.
Her’s brother Paul Vang said his extended family also chipped in to help Her doorknock and fundraise for her campaign.
“It was a village that helped get her elected, our Vang extended family was out there,” he said.
Community reacts to a historic win
A day after the historic election, several Hmong Minnesotans expressed pride and excitement over Her’s win.
“I feel proud of her,” Kia Thao said Wednesday afternoon while working at a food booth inside Hmong Village.
Yuj Yang, 41, said he stayed up late last night to watch the election results. As a father of two daughters, he hoped for her success.
“The truth is, in our Hmong society, women tend to follow a lot and I’m glad to see that we’re getting out of that phase where our women can also lead by example,” he told Sahan Journal.
Paula Yang, who has lived in St. Paul for about three decades, said it’s too early to tell what Her can accomplish, but she remains optimistic. “I hope she will do what she says.”
Some of the issues facing Hmong Minnesotans that they want to see Her address include Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportations of refugees with past criminal records, poverty levels in the Hmong community and helping more people access government programs.
“I want her to help out the people who have SNAP, Medicaid or in low-income housing because right now it’s so high for everybody — they can’t afford to pay nothing,” said Mailia Thao, 34.
Her is the fourth U.S. mayor of Hmong descent, according to Seng Vang of Fresno, California, who tracks Hmong elected officials. He also leads the Hmong American Experience, a media organization that shares information about the community.
The other three mayors all led cities in central California, including Oakland, Seng said. They were also all Democrats. While some Hmong Republicans have run mayoral campaigns, none has been successful, he said.
Seng said the concentration of Hmong voters in the Twin Cities, especially the east metro, can help boost candidates. Her’s upbringing as a refugee, her experience holding elected office, and her relative youth help her appeal to a wider audience.
“I felt that she had a really good chance to win,” he said.
Some elected officials said they felt surprised by Her’s victory.
“My heart was pumping so fast and I got a little lightheaded from happiness,” state Sen. Foung Hawj said. “I thought there would be [a Hmong mayor in the Twin Cities], but I didn’t expect it this soon.”
He described Her as a “hard-working” and “driven” legislator. He’ll continue cheering her on as mayor, he added.
St. Paul Council Vice President HwaJeong Kim said she has known Her since 2018 and developed a “personal level of trust” in their relationship that will carry over to their work together steering the city.
In January 2024, St. Paul swore in its first all-female City Council. That council will now be led by the city’s first female mayor.
Council President Rebecca Noecker emphasized that Her’s victory makes history because of her identity, “but beyond that, she has experience, she’s shown she can listen and she can get things done,” she said.
Her’s priorities as mayor
Her said the first steps are to put together a team to ensure a smooth transition from Carter’s administration. She also plans to meet with council members and other city leaders to learn about what issues are important to them.
Starting out, Her said she wants to focus on what she calls “core city functions” such as making sure that residents have access to basic needs like food and health care.
She also wants to prioritize affordable housing, and wants to meet with local developers to discuss ways to expand affordable housing in the city.
Her said she also wants to protect residents, especially immigrants, from federal actions taken by the Trump administration.
“For me, it’s really about … ensuring that we can protect ourselves from the fallout of what’s going to be happening these next few years.”
