For St. Paul’s Hmong community, pride and expectations after Kaohly Her’s victory

The morning after state Rep. Kaohly Her won a historic election victory, You Xiong had plenty of pride in the incoming St. Paul mayor — and plenty of ideas for her.

For starters, Xiong said, how about a traffic signal and wider road in front of the Hmong Village Shopping Center. Also? Increase the clearance of a railroad bridge that sometimes catches the tops of trucks.

The significance of Her’s win wasn’t lost on anyone at the shopping center Wednesday, as word of her triumph over Mayor Melvin Carter spread. But even as people celebrated her rise to the city’s top elected office, they made it clear they have high expectations for the St. Paul’s first Hmong and female mayor.

“We can be better,” said Xiong, whose husband has a shop at Hmong Village. “Everybody can work together to make a difference.”

St. Paul is the heart of Minnesota’s Hmong community and the base of its political power. The city has elected Hmong legislators, school board members and City Council members, but the election of a Hmong woman as mayor is a first in Minnesota.

It was an achievement made all the more poignant because Hmong people don’t have a national identity, said Minnesota Sen. Foung Hawj, DFL-St. Paul, who stayed neutral during the campaign but then decided to attend Her’s party on election night. When the race was called for Her, Hawj said he thought, “it’s finally happened” 50 years after the first Hmong people arrived in Minnesota.

“Rep. Her is a solid-gold example of our American dream — our Hmong American dream,” Hawj said. “I’m so happy for her.”

“First woman and first Hmong,” he said.

He said the Hmong community is proud of the new mayor-elect.

“It’s a good thing,” he said.

Her paused to recognize the significance of her election during an interview Wednesday morning.

“It’s really important to my community, especially our elders,” Her said.

“The success of my work has always been because I know that there is more that ties us all together than separates us,” Her said.

The drive to see children do better than their parents is hardly unique to immigrants and refugees, she said.

“Everybody’s parents and grandparents and ancestors have the same dream for them,” Her said, “and every generation of people want better for their next generation and for themselves.”

Her has also spoken about how she wants to see St. Paul support immigrants amid increased immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump. Hmong residents of Minnesota have been detained by ICE.

“Together we will fight back,” Her said to supporters after polls closed — not just for Hmong immigrants, but for all of St. Paul’s immigrant communities.

Minnesota’s Hmong community is among the largest in the United States, with nearly 100,000 Minnesotans of Hmong ancestry; about one-third of them live in St. Paul.

The win comes more than three decades after Choua Lee became the first Hmong St. Paulite to win elected office, taking a seat on the school board in 1991. The city has been sending Hmong legislators to the Capitol since 2002, starting when Mee Moua won a special election to the state Senate early that year, and followed by Cy Thao’s election to the House that fall. St. Paul’s first City Council member of Hmong descent was Dai Thao, elected to represent Frogtown and Midway in 2013.

Now, Her is set to become the city’s first Hmong mayor.

“It’s about time!” said Txongpao Lee, executive director of the Hmong Cultural Center in St. Paul.

A mayor who can speak Hmong could help connect Hmong elders who are not as fluent in English feel more connected with the city government and the wider St. Paul community, Lee said.

Her’s achievement stands on generations of other St. Paul firsts, Moua said, noting that Carter broke barriers, too. He was the city’s first Black mayor.

“We build the political culture together,” Moua said. “That’s why St. Paul is special.”

Lee of the Hmong Cultural Center said that culture benefits all immigrant communities gaining footholds in St. Paul.

“It’s good for everybody to see,” Lee said.

Pao Kee Xiong, a Wausau, Wis., resident who was at the Hmong Village Shopping Center to shop for an upcoming Hmong new year celebration, agreed as he considered Her’s win.

Xai Lee, a St. Paul school psychologist who was at the shopping center, described Her’s victory as “wonderful.” Then she offered up some concern, as someone who recently bought a home in St. Paul: Please do something about property taxes.

Allison Kite of The Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.