St. Paul poised to continue unbroken, but not unusual, history of men in the mayor's office

Erin Dady cringed when students touring the mayor's office looked at the wall covered in pictures of St. Paul's leaders.

"Just because there are only white men on here doesn't mean you can't be mayor," Dady, Mayor Chris Coleman's former chief of staff, would tell them.

She is one of many qualified women — along with City Council members, deputy mayors and legislators — whose pictures residents said they would like to see on that wall. But as DFL delegates prepare to endorse a mayoral candidate June 17, one thing is fairly certain: It will be a man.

Despite a full roster of women with political experience and the wave of activism spurred by Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, St. Paul has stubbornly remained among the ranks of cities yet to put a woman in the top job. Duluth elected its first female leader last year, and Betsy Hodges, Minneapolis' second female mayor, is running for re-election. Yet five of Minnesota's 20 largest cities have never had a female mayor, and the gender gap persists at all levels of government — and can impact policy priorities. The state is 0-40 on electing a woman to the governor's office, though several women have entered the 2018 race.

For decades, only men were in the pipeline that starts with lower-level boards and commissions and leads to the mayor's office and beyond, St. Paul Deputy Mayor Kristin Beckmann said. Nearly all incumbents are re-elected, so she tells women, "An open seat is like gold."

But, when Coleman opted not to run again, she remained one of the many women who decided not to heed that advice.

St. Paul women see particular systems in the city that might have better positioned men for office.

But for the most part, people said the roadblocks that have kept women from becoming St. Paul's mayor are the same as anywhere else.

"There's nothing in the water. The boys' club exists everywhere," said Lauren Beecham, executive director of Women Winning, which tries to elect pro-abortion rights women in Minnesota.

Beecham sees other barriers: women haven't been asked to run as often and are more likely to assume they are not qualified. When women run, studies show they are as likely to win as men, she said, but an average female candidate must be asked to run five to seven times before she says yes.

Men are more likely to picture themselves as politicians and have established connections to get them there, Larson said. Women often take a roundabout path to office and rely on informal networks of support, she said.

But it seems more men are mentoring women who are interested in politics, said Pam Myhra, a former state legislator from Burnsville. A man invited her to her first club meeting of the Minnesota Federation of Republican Women in 2008. She's now the president of the federation, which connects conservative women.

Women are more likely to be their family's primary caregiver, Beckmann said, and need more support. Both she and Brendmoen considered running for mayor this year. Beckmann felt it would be too difficult while holding the deputy mayor post, and she would have to step away from projects she's invested in.

Brendmoen has three sons, ages 12, 14 and 16. She was conflicted about how to factor her role as a mom into her decision. After all, she noted, the three men in the race have young kids.

"I was like, why do I feel differently about that?" she said. "It's not like I don't have the support system there. But I don't want to check out of that.

"I'm sort of mad at myself for feeling that way, because dudes wouldn't."

Elizabeth Dickinson is the lone female candidate in the St. Paul mayor's race. As a Green Party member, she is in a challenging position in the DFL-dominated town.

But Women Winning activists and others hold out hope that one of the DFL women they have courted will join the throng of candidates, even after the endorsement.

The government is more likely to take on policies that improve the lives of women and families when women are at the table, Dickinson said. Dady, the former chief of staff, was the driving force behind St. Paul's paid parental leave for city workers.

Every day Beckmann attends a meeting where she is the only woman, and said she brings a different negotiating style. When the city was trying to figure out how to distribute fire department resources last year, she said she told everyone, "Get in a room, get around a table. Enough. Enough triangulating and politicking. Let's just talk it out."

League of Women Voters member Bobbi Megard, who ran for St. Paul mayor in 1997 and 2001, is tentatively optimistic that more women's voices will be heard in local politics — particularly in the wake of last year's presidential election. "This whole thing in Washington is causing people to look around and say, 'OK, what can I do?' " Megard said. But people need to keep encouraging women to enter the political career pipeline, she said — and that must start at a young age.

In Duluth, like St. Paul, schoolchildren frequently visit the mayor's office. Girls often tell Larson they didn't know a woman could be mayor.