‘Her’story: Kaohly Her makes history, elected mayor in St. Paul

Voters in the Twin Cities had their voices heard and in St. Paul, the call was for a new mayor. 

Kaohly Her was elected St. Paul's next mayor, the first woman and first Hmong America to be elected mayor. Credit: Kaohly Her

Voters in the Twin Cities had their voices heard and in St. Paul, the call was for a new mayor. 

Mayor Melvin Carter was unseated by Kaohly Her – a former Carter staffer – in a five-way race for the Capital city’s top job. Her’s victory comes as somewhat of a surprise because she announced her candidacy just three months prior to last night’s election. Using the ranked choice voting system, Carter had the lead in the first round of voting, but didn’t have the more than 50 percent needed to keep the contest from advancing to subsequent rounds. It was in that second round where more voters ranked Her as their second choice, which allowed her to overtake Carter. 

With the victory, Her will become St. Paul’s first woman and first Hmong American to serve as the city’s mayor. Carter was the city’s first Black mayor. 

In Minneapolis the race for mayor has yet to be called, with incumbent, Jacob Frey, and his closest opponent, Omar Fateh, as the top two vote-getters in the first round of ranked choice voting. 

All 13 council seats in Minneapolis were up for grabs, with the hottest contest in Minneapolis’ fifth ward, where several contestants are vying for the seat held by Councilman Jeremiah Ellison. No candidate received the requisite vote to be declared a winner in the first round. The top two first round vote getters are Pearll Warren and Ethrophic Burnett. Minneapolis’ fifth ward comprises the lower portion of North Minneapolis, one of the most diverse wards in the city.

A ballot question in St. Paul to amend the city’s charter to impose civil fines for violations of city ordinances passed by a wide margin, 68 percent to 32 percent.

Nationally, Democrats are celebrating, as they secured big wins for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, and in California, a proposition passed to allow its Democratic governor to redistrict the state to most likely serve up five U.S. House seats to the party, a response to Republican redistricting efforts in Texas, Missouri and Indiana – this ahead of the 2026 midterms. 

In New York City, Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani easily won election to become the city’s next mayor, defeating disgraced former governor, Andrew Cuomo.

In addition, Democrats in Georgia flipped three Public Service Commission seats that were held for more than 25 years by Republicans, signaling possible trouble for the GOP in 2026.