Kaohly Her wins historic election, will be St. Paul’s first Hmong mayor

St. Paul voters on Tuesday handed a historic election victory to state Rep. Kaohly Her, who will be the first woman and first person from the city’s Hmong community to serve as mayor.

Her upset her former boss, two-term Mayor Melvin Carter, to win the election.

Coming 50 years after Hmong refugees began arriving in the U.S. fleeing war in southeast Asia, Her’s ascent is a political milestone and achievement in the heart of Minnesota’s Hmong community. The 52-year-old state lawmaker was born in Laos and arrived in the U.S. as a child, one of tens of thousands who eventually landed in Minnesota after the war to forge a new life.

Her has represented the city for seven years in the Legislature and formerly worked as Carter’s policy director. She entered the race late, only declaring her candidacy in August, and did little to differentiate her policy goals from Carter’s — the two even campaigned together in support of the city’s two ballot questions. Instead, she focused her attacks on what she called Carter’s unresponsive management.

On Tuesday night, Her walked into the campaign watch party to a rousing applause from around 100 attendees an hour after the polls closed. She said her campaign did everything it could to challenge Carter, knocking on 40,000 doors.

When it became clear that she had won just after midnight, she took the stage in front of cheering supporters.

“I’m proud to stand before you as the first Asian and the first woman mayor-elect of St. Paul,” Her said. “Here is my commitment to you as your next mayor: I will always show up. We are a large city but a small community. Being involved matters.”

“We have to do what we’ve done from the beginning and that’s trust this city,” he said.

Carter thanked his wife and staff, and congratulated Her on a historic election. He said his team will be there to “set Her up for success.”

As the city’s first woman mayor, Her will join the seven women of the City Council to lead St. Paul.

A long line of Hmong politicians has come out of St. Paul in the last three decades, starting with the election of Choua Lee, who was elected to the school board in 1991.

At least three cities in California, where there is also a significant diaspora, have elected Hmong mayors, with the first elected in 2016. About a third of the roughly 99,000 members of the Minnesota Hmong community live in St. Paul.

“The fact that it coincides with the 50^th anniversary of our resettlement will be an exclamation mark,” Moua said.

She said St. Paul has always been a place that has nurtured immigrant communities.

“Successive generations of new Americans have called St. Paul home, and I’m hoping that whoever steps in safeguards that sense of community and belonging for the city of St. Paul,” Moua said.

Pride swelled among Her’s Hmong supporters late Tuesday as results trickled in, with Her running just behind Carter on first-choice ballots.

Shoua Ger Yang, an 80-year-old who served as a commander in the Secret War in Laos, is one of many members of St. Paul’s Hmong community who are ecstatic to watch one of their own contend for the office.

Members of the community who attended Her’s watch party spoke glowingly of Her for her personal journey, and the inspiration she is providing.

Kabo Yang, 47, said she would be proud to have someone representing St. Paul who understands the struggles of the Hmong community and can communicate with them. She said she thought Her could make young people and immigrants feel safe in St. Paul.

Salina Vang, 55, said her daughter has taken a renewed interest in learning the Hmong language after watching Her’s campaign for mayor.

“We really hope she wins,” Vang said just before results were announced. “It would be a gold medal for us.”

Her said she is “super proud” her campaign forced conversations about blight, addiction, housing and local business in St. Paul — issues she will now take on as mayor.

Downtown St. Paul’s struggles are well-documented, with the central business district stubbornly emptier than it was before the pandemic. A spate of restaurant closures in downtown and Lowertown keep the area feeling eerie at night, and the condemnation of two major buildings within the last year put an exclamation point on the issue.

The next mayor will also have to contend with neighborhood-level issues. Some of the biggest include construction on the Summit Avenue bike lanes and the yawning vacancies at malls in the Midway area, especially after the exit of Cub Foods.

And across St. Paul, Her will have to figure out how to balance rising rents and the city’s drive to build more housing.

Her’s term will run for three years instead of the usual four-year term. St. Paul is shifting city elections to even years in an effort to drive up participation. The next city elections, for both mayor and all seven council seats, will be held in 2028.