St. Paul voters elect a young, diverse — and possibly all-female — City Council

When St. Paul's new City Council is sworn in early next year, it may be the city's youngest, most racially diverse — and its first made up entirely of women.

Voters on Tuesday re-elected incumbents Rebecca Noecker, Mitra Jalali and Nelsie Yang, and elected first-time candidates Saura Jost and Hwa Jeong Kim. The two remaining races, in the First and Seventh wards, won't have declared winners until at least Friday due to the city's ranked-choice voting system. But women of color are leading in both contests.

"It's such a huge milestone. A very historical one," Yang said Wednesday. "The face of the St. Paul City Council is going to be drastically different and going to inspire so many more people who are young, people who are from communities of color, people who have always been told that they don't belong at the table."

According to Ramsey County election officials, citywide voter turnout for this year's elections was nearly 50,000, down about 6,500 from the last council elections in 2019.

Jalali said the results signal that St. Paul "wants people who are in this work with them, who believe local government can and should help people.

"And they want their leaders to reflect their life experiences," she added.

Across the city, 30 candidates ran for the seven council seats — four of which were open, without incumbents seeking re-election. So far, the progressive bloc of candidates endorsed by Mayor Melvin Carter and the city DFL Party has scored across-the-board victories.

The progressives' pick in the First Ward — entrepreneur and community organizer Anika Bowie — led the eight-way race with 40% of first-choice votes. The closest runners-up are school guidance counselor James Lo and small-business owner Omar Syed, both of whom earned close to 20% of first-choice votes.

In the Seventh Ward, philanthropy program officer Cheniqua Johnson — who was endorsed by the DFL and Carter — garnered 41% of first-choice votes. Social work professor Pa Der Vang trailed her by 5 percentage points.

Under St. Paul's ranked-choice system, candidates must earn more than 50% of first-choice votes to secure an election night victory. Ramsey County officials will start reallocating second-choice votes at 8 a.m. Friday.

After earning 48% of the Third Ward's first-choice votes, Jost declared victory late Tuesday, following a concession from her closest opponent, public policy director Isaac Russell.

"I've been so focused on my own race, and just cheering folks on from afar — but to see last night just how well we all did was so powerful," Jost said in an interview Wednesday.

Kim, who won nearly 52% of first-choice votes in the Fifth Ward's four-way race, said she appreciated being able to share the campaign experience with other female candidates.

"I've worked on a ton of a campaigns, but running can be such a singular experience," she said. "It feels sometimes lonely, but you're never alone in the experience because you have these other women that are kind of going through it with you."

Once the final two races are determined, incoming council members say their focus will shift to governing.

"I think the opportunity is to have fresh thinking, have new ideas, have new energy, and not be beholden to structures and assumptions from the past that we don't actually have to be married to," Noecker said.

Members of the newly elected council gave a variety of answers when asked what they hope to tackle first. Jost said she hopes to dive into plans for the 1% sales tax voters passed Tuesday, while Kim said she'd like to create a city workers' bill of rights.

Yang said the council could act quickly on rent stabilization and administrative fines, and Jalali said she thinks housing will be an early priority.

There's also the question of council leadership roles. Jalali and Noecker both said they would be interested in serving as council president to succeed Amy Brendmoen, who did not seek re-election. But each also noted a variety of good opportunities for leadership — and the decision will ultimately be made in concert with their colleagues.