‘Less vitriolic’ than Minneapolis: What to know about Tuesday’s special election in St. Paul.

St. Paul is gearing up for a special city council election on Tuesday, with four candidates vying to replace Mitra Jalali, the fiercely progressive council member who served as council president.

Jalali resigned suddenly in late January, citing health concerns, and in April, the council appointed her former aide Matt Privratsky to fill her seat ahead of Tuesday’s election.

The four candidates are school board member and activist Chauntyll Allen; attorney Molly Coleman; public health educator Cole Hanson; and public relations professional Carolyn Will.

In a lull before the November campaigns for St. Paul mayor and Minneapolis city offices heat up, the small local race has attracted some outside attention from political observers well beyond the bounds of Ward 4.

“Their candidates maybe fall into a traditional set of lanes,” observed John Edwards, who runs Minneapolis hyperlocal news site WedgeLive. Though his publication typically focuses on the neighborhoods near Uptown Minneapolis, Edwards interviewed the four Ward 4 candidates after Hanson contacted him.

The divide between Minneapolis’ progressive and centrist factions has not mapped neatly onto the Ward 4 race, he said. And the tone is different.

“It feels less vitriolic than Minneapolis,” Edwards said.

Coleman, daughter of former Mayor Chris Coleman, has stacked up endorsements from across the political spectrum and has raised more than double the money of any of her competitors.

Progressive environmental group Sustain St. Paul and the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce have both endorsed Coleman. Mayor Melvin Carter backs her candidacy, as does former Council President Amy Brendmoen and Council Member Saura Jost, who represents Highland Park in neighboring Ward 3.

Coleman has raised almost $56,000, according to campaign finance reports made two weeks before the election. The donations have come from well-known DFL donors such as Sam and Sylvia Kaplan and DFL-aligned lobbyists, as well as executives in the Twin Cities’ largest development firms including Ryan Companies, and union-affiliated political action committees.

Hanson is running with the endorsement of the Twin Cities chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, and has raised over $21,000. Two DSA-aligned council members — St. Paul’s Ward 6 member Nelsie Yang, and Robin Wonsley of Minneapolis’ Ward 2 — have endorsed Hanson.

Will, who before she began her campaign was active in the group Save Our Street, which opposes new bike lanes on Summit Avenue, has raised almost $21,000. Contributors include former council member Jane Prince, who has also endorsed Will, and Robert Bushard, who unsuccessfully sought the seat in 2007.

Ward 4, on the city’s northwest corner, includes some of St. Paul’s wealthiest enclaves and some of its poorest, encompassing Hamline-Midway, Union Park, St. Anthony Park and parts of Macalester-Groveland.

It’s a ranked choice election, so voters will be asked to decide their first, second, third and fourth choices of the candidates.

Early voting began June 27.