A woman who previously declared she was living in the U.S. illegally won the election to become the next mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota.
Democratic State Rep. Kaohly Vang Her emerged victorious late Tuesday night in the St. Paul mayoral election, defeating incumbent Democratic Mayor Melvin Carter after a tabulation of second-choice votes, according to election results. Her, who was born in Laos and entered the U.S. as a refugee, once claimed during a public debate that she and her family were illegal migrants, but later walked those claims back.
“I am illegal in this country. My parents are illegal here in this country,” Her said in June during a Minnesota House of Representatives floor debate over Medicaid eligibility for illegal migrants.
“I tell you this story because I want you to think about who it is that you are calling illegal,” Her continued. “My family was just smarter in how we illegally came here.”
Kaohly Vang Her. YouTube screen grab.
Later that day, the state representative told the Minnesota Reformer, a local news outlet, that she and her parents were actually American citizens, but made the stunning claim in an attempt to inspire empathy from her GOP colleagues. However, Her maintained that her father technically broke the law when filling out refugee paperwork for her family.
“Technically, you would say my father broke the law, right? But we would have come anyway,” Her said to the Minnesota Reformer at the time.
Her will begin leading St. Paul, a city of more than 300,000 people, in January 2026, becoming the first woman and first member of the Hmong community to do so, according to MPR News. A member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, she previously served in Carter’s office before challenging him for his seat.
In nearby Minneapolis, Mayor Jacob Frey is still fighting off a challenge from Minnesota State Senator Omar Fateh. While Frey accumulated the most first-choice votes Tuesday night, he fell short of the majority needed to win in the first round, pushing the election into a count of the second and third-choice votes, according to Fox 9.
Democrats made major gains across the country on Tuesday night. Virginia Democrat State Rep. Abigail Spanberger handily won the state’s gubernatorial election, Republican Jack Ciattarelli lost his bid to flip the New Jersey governor’s seat, while socialist darling Zohran Mamdani emerged victorious in New York City’s mayoral election, defeating both former governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
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