Rep. Kaohly Vang Her will be St. Paul’s first female and first Hmong mayor after besting her former boss, incumbent mayor Melvin Carter, in an upset Tuesday night.
After the race was called, supporters at her watch party erupted into cheers. Her embraced her family.
“I’m proud to say that I’m before you today as the first Asian and the first woman as mayor-elect of the city of St. Paul,” she said.
In her victory speech, Her thanked her parents who brought her to the United States as refugees when she was 3. She also thanked Carter, whom she worked for as a policy director.
“I will always be grateful for that opportunity,” she said.
Around midnight, Carter stepped out of a private room at the Black Hart soccer bar where he held his watch party and stood onstage with his family and some of his staff. In a 12-minute concession speech, Carter highlighted some of the biggest policies, including guaranteed income and a college savings allowance.
He also shared with supporters that he immediately called Her to congratulate her on her win.
“This has to be about the city,” he said. “And that means we have to set her up for success.”
The results were close after the first ballot, with neither candidate meeting the 50% threshold. Ramsey County posted an unofficial tally of ranked choice ballots at midnight Tuesday, which showed Her to be the winner.
Her grew up in Wisconsin and moved to St. Paul after graduating from college.
As Carter’s policy director in his first term, she led his early priorities like setting up college savings accounts for newborns, and establishing the city’s Office of Financial Empowerment, among other work.
After she was elected to the Legislature in 2018, she led the Reproductive Freedom Caucus and helped create the Minnesota Asian Pacific (MAP) Legislative Caucus.
Her announced a challenge to her former boss in August, citing safe streets, economic development and strong schools as key issues in the city. She told Sahan Journal that the assassination of her colleague and friend, House Speaker Melissa Hortman in June moved her to join the race.
MEET ST. PAUL’S NEW MAYOR
Supporters at Her’s watch party Tuesday night said she worked hard to win votes after entering the race in August.
Patrick Rhone and Bethany Gladhill live across the street from Sweeney’s Saloon, where the watch party was held. They both voted for Her.
Rhone said Her has been showing up in the community throughout her campaign. He said he didn’t see much campaigning from incumbent Melvin Carter until a few weeks ago.
“One of the things I like about Kaohly is her energy, her pragmatism, her understanding that running a city is actually hard, and you actually need to look at the data, and you actually need to make some tough decisions,” Rhone said.
Gladhill said she supports Her’s plans surrounding affordable housing and mental health support.
“I would be so excited to be able to show our 17-year-old daughter St. Paul’s first female mayor is a woman of color,” Gladhill said.
Talee Vang lives in Minneapolis but attended Tuesday’s watch party to support Her. Vang works in health equity at Hennepin Healthcare as a psychologist and met Her while working on legislation. Her has represented St. Paul since 2019 in the state Legislature.
Vang said Her has demonstrated willingness to work on political issues with both Democrats and Republicans.
“We know that there are several social crises that we’re dealing with, and Kaohly has experience,” Vang said. “She has the fierceness, the determination to make it happen.”
Vallen Her lives in St. Paul, and said he’d like to see the city’s first mayor who is a woman and Hmong.
“It would be a great change,” he said.
