St. Paul mayoral candidate Kaohly Her shares vision for Minnesota's capital city
There's just over four weeks until the November elections, when Minnesota voters go to the polls to decide numerous municipal elections around the state. One of the big races is for St. Paul mayor.
Incumbent Mayor Melvin Carter is seeking a third term. Carter won his first bid for reelection in 2021 with a commanding 61% of the vote.
This year, the best known of his four opponents is State Rep. Kaohly Her. Her has represented St. Paul in the state legislature since 2019. Among the neighborhoods she represents are Cathedral Hill and Mac-Groveland.
Her worked for Carter as his policy director for three years and nine months during his first term. Now, she is running against him. While violent crime in St. Paul is down, she says more needs to be done.
"We have to make sure that our city is open for business," Her said. "And when people are here and trying to navigate difficult situations, that we are responsive and that when they are calling into city hall and asking for that, we are actually able to track things that are happening."
Her says she is running because the city is at a standstill. She says development has stalled at the Ford site, Midway and downtown. Her says she would have worked to keep Cub Foods from closing its Midway store.
"Our environment and our city is not conducive for people to run their businesses and to thrive in St Paul, and that I bring a different perspective as to how I would do that," Her said.
She says Carter's property tax proposal of 5.3% is too much and that she would expand the tax base by attracting new businesses and bringing more affordable housing to the city.
Her is known for her push for gun control laws in the Minnesota legislature. In 2024, she sponsored a bill that required gun owners to immediately report a stolen or lost gun. Gun advocates argued it would unfairly penalize gun owners and the measure did not pass. Her says she will bring it up again.
St. Paul's mayoral and city elections on Nov. 4 are ranked-choice elections.
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