Minnesota state Rep. Kaohly Her is projected to be St. Paul's next mayor, a historic election that will unseat two-term incumbent Melvin Carter in an upset.

Her prevailed by fewer than 2,000 votes after a second round of ballot tabulation in the ranked choice voting municipal election Tuesday, setting her up to be the capital city's first woman and Asian American mayor. 

She entered the race for mayor just 90 days ago, but in that short amount of time she gained momentum and built enough of a coalition to defeat Carter, whom she once worked for early in his mayoral tenure. 

Supporters chanted her name after midnight Wednesday when it was clear she won the city's top job. In her remarks, she vowed to take a collaborative approach to tackling some of St. Paul's biggest problems, including a downtown core struggling to rebound and high property taxes for homeowners.

"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," she told a crowd at her campaign party. 

Ramsey County's canvassing board was set to certify election results Wednesday afternoon. Her secured nearly 48% of the vote to Carter's 41%, with other ballots inactive after ranked choice voting. 

The significance of her ascent is stirring excitement within the Hmong community, many of whom see so much of themselves in the mayor-elect's story. Minnesota is home to the second largest Hmong population in the U.S. 

Her family arrived in the U.S. 50 years ago as Hmong refugees when she was just a child in order to seek a better life.

"Never in their wildest dreams would I be standing here today accepting the position of mayor," she said. 

Karen Yang, through an interpreter, said she was proud to cast her ballot for the mayor-elect because she had hoped one day she would see something like this happen as an elder in the community. 

"I just want her to be a role model with all the resources she has and be a role model to inspire the next generation," she said in an interview at the Hmong Village Shopping Center on the city's East side Wednesday . 

For Pasha Her—who isn't related to the mayor-elect—Kaohly Her is already an inspiration to her young daughters, ages six and two. 

Pasha said she is excited about the future for the city and the Hmong community.

"Now that she has become mayor, people can look up and say, 'hey, I can do the same thing. I just have to work hard and take a step forward one day at a time,'" she told WCCO. 

"I want [my daughters] to know they can become anything they want," she added. 

In her speech Wednesday morning, Her thanked Carter for the opportunity to work in his office eight years ago when he was first elected mayor.

Meanwhile, Carter conceded the race and congratulated Her on her victory. On social media, he re-shared a post of his from two years ago that said he heard somebody say that the city should elect a woman mayor.

"They might have been trying to insult me but that actually sounds cool," it read.

On Wednesday he added the comment: "It still sounds nice. Good luck, Rep. Her."