Progressive DFLer Yang seeking second term in St. Paul's Sixth Ward

Nelsie Yang was the first Hmong woman ever elected to the St. Paul City Council when she cleared a six-candidate field to win her seat in 2019 — and, at 24, becoming likely the youngest St. Paul council member ever as well.

Now she's seeking another term in the Nov. 7 election, she says, to continue advocating for progressive policies.

St. Paul's Sixth Ward — which stretches across the East Side neighborhoods of Frost Lake, Hayden Heights, Hazel Park, Payne-Phalen, Phalen Village and Prosperity — has long welcomed new arrivals to the United States. It includes both vibrant cultural corridors and some of the city's most persistent pockets of poverty.

Sixth Ward residents are concerned about crime, said Sai Thao, who attended an elected officials' forum last month.

"Public safety is one of the biggest things here on the East Side," said Thao, who also voiced concern over the lack of lighting on many of the area's streets.

Terri Thao, an East Sider who finished second to Yang in the 2019 race, agreed that crime is top-of-mind for Sixth Ward residents, citing the 14-year-old girl recently shot to death and a fatal stabbing at Harding High School earlier this year.

She said East Siders don't always feel like their voices are heard at City Hall.

"There's still this genuine feeling of, we're a third of the city, but we're left out of a lot of really critical conversations," she said.

Yang, who lives in the Greater East Side neighborhood, was one of six on the 2019 ballot vying to succeed Dan Bostrom, who had been on the City Council for more than two decades. Yang announced she was running months before Bostrom announced his retirement and opened up the seat.

In her first campaign, Yang built up support from progressive groups and the Hmong clan system for her historic victory. This race is different: Yang, now 28, is an incumbent and has just one challenger.

In an interview, Yang cited income disparities as the most pressing issue in the ward. As the daughter of refugees, she watched her parents work for poverty wages — forging her conviction that making a living wage is critical to helping people live dignified lives.

She also cited affordable housing as a priority. Yang campaigned for the rent control ordinance approved by St. Paul voters in 2021, and has opposed amendments limiting the policy. She doesn't support it in its current form.

"It's been amended in so many ways that it really gets further away from protecting renters in our community and favoring developers instead," she said.

Ben Werner, a housing advocate with an East Side community investment co-op, said Yang has been a strong advocate for housing and other issues. He said top concerns for the ward include building more affordable housing, especially deeply affordable housing, and providing better support for small businesses so they can create and maintain living-wage jobs.

Werner said he'd like to see Yang focus more on gun violence. However, he said, "there's so many people who need help on the East Side that there's only so much she can do."

On the St. Paul ballot this year is a question asking voters whether to raise the sales tax by 1% to fund transportation and recreation infrastructure. Yang said she supports the measure.

"We really need more funding to be able to rebuild and even maintain our infrastructure, from our roads to our bridges," she said at a League of Women Voters forum in September.

In addition to backing from the DFL Party, Yang's endorsements include TakeAction Minnesota, OutFront Minnesota and Democratic Socialists of America Twin Cities, along with other progressive groups and labor organizations.

On her most recent finance report filed in September, Yang reported having raised $171,800 and having $15,500 on hand.

Gary Unger, 82, a retired longtime 3M employee who lives in Hillcrest, is challenging Yang. He describes himself as a lifelong East Sider, and says he's running because he feels the East Side has strayed from its values.

Unger said his biggest concern is funding for police and other emergency workers. He doesn't support the 1% sales tax increase proposal on the ballot, but in an interview said he'd like to see the city focus on bread and butter issues such as fixing roads and maintaining buildings, rather than other issues he called "tangents."

He added that his experience, including two decades on the local district council, sets him apart from Yang. Unger has not filed campaign finance reports.

Early voting in St. Paul city elections has started. Find out here what you need to know to vote, from what's on your ballot to figuring out which ward you live in.