It's been nearly four months since the St. Paul mayor's race ended. But for Council Member Dai Thao, the campaign isn't over.
Thao, who placed third in the election for mayor, is scheduled to appear in Ramsey County District Court on Tuesday to face three misdemeanor charges of violating rules designed to keep candidates from manipulating voters on Election Day.
Thao says he was trying to help an elderly Hmong voter on Nov. 6, when authorities said he drove her to a polling place and helped her fill out her ballot. The accusation arose weeks after prosecutors declined to charge Thao in a separate criminal investigation into allegations that his campaign solicited a bribe from a lobbyist.
Throughout the turmoil of the past year, his supporters have stayed loyal to a politician they see as an outsider fighting against the status quo.
"When someone from a marginalized community rises up and runs for office, we start discovering a lot of barriers to voting," said Cindy Yang, a former campaign volunteer who said she's planning to attend a rally at the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center to support Thao. "I feel like these are systemic issues, and it's unfortunately plaguing Dai right now."
Thao, 42, responded to the accusations by saying that he misunderstood the situation or was simply trying to do the right thing. The cases have laid bare the inner workings of a mayoral campaign that was troubled from the start and a candidate hobbled by what former campaign staff say was a chaotic campaign.
"I have helped multiple candidates with their campaign operations — both before and after those few months that I volunteered my time to help Dai's team — and I can definitively say that I have never seen a campaign run the way that his was," said Ben Baglio, a former campaign volunteer. "And when it comes down to it, that's on the candidate."
Thao has said he has no intention of resigning, and a misdemeanor conviction would not require him to do so.