Dai Thao

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Dai Thao

Nonpartisan

Prior offices

St. Paul City Council Ward 1

Successor: Russel Balenger

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Education

Bachelor's

Montana State University

Personal

Profession

Technology specialist

Contact

Campaign Facebook

Dai Thao was a member of the St. Paul City Council in Minnesota, representing Ward 1. Thao assumed office in 2013. Thao left office on August 1, 2022.

Thao ran for re-election to the St. Paul City Council to represent Ward 1 in Minnesota. Thao won in the general election on November 5, 2019.

He was elected to serve a partial term on the council in November 2013. Dai Thao won the general election on November 3, 2015.

Thao was a candidate for mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota. Thao was defeated in the general election on November 7, 2017.

Biography

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Thao studied computer and military science at Montana State University. His professional experience includes working as the information technology manager at Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery and the technology director for Keystone Community Services. He has served as the northeast region organizer for ISAIAH, an organizing mentor for TakeAction Minnesota, and as a national weeklong leadership trainer. He writes for the Hmong Times.

Elections

2019

See also: City elections in St. Paul, Minnesota (2019)

General election

General election for St. Paul City Council Ward 1

Select round: Round 2 Round 1

The ranked-choice voting election was won by Dai Thao in round 2 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Dai Thao	53.1	3,311	514	Won (2)
		Anika Bowie	46.9	2,921	907	2
	Submit photo	Liz De La Torre	0.0	0	-1,265	1
		Abu Nayeem	0.0	0	-504	1

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Dai Thao	42.3	2,797	0	Won (2)
		Anika Bowie	30.4	2,014	0	2
	Submit photo	Liz De La Torre	19.1	1,265	0	1
		Abu Nayeem	7.6	504	0	1
		Undeclared Write-insUndeclared write-in candidates may advance past the first round in some ranked-choice elections. If the official source reports write-in votes by candidate name, Ballotpedia displays them alongside the ballot-qualified candidates. However, if write-in votes are reported without a name, they will instead be included in the total write-in votes figure in Round 1. Please consult the official elections source for more details about unnamed write-in candidate vote totals past Round 1.	0.5	36	0

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,616
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

2017

See also: Municipal elections in St. Paul, Minnesota (2017)

The city of St. Paul, Minnesota, held an election for mayor on November 7, 2017. The filing deadline for this election was August 15, 2017. Mayor Chris Coleman (D) did not file for re-election because of his 2018 campaign for governor. The following candidates ran in the general election for mayor of St. Paul.

Mayor of St. Paul, General Election, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Melvin Carter III	50.86%	31,353
Pat Harris	24.79%	15,281
Dai Thao	12.31%	7,590
Elizabeth Dickinson	4.75%	2,927
Tom Goldstein	3.83%	2,360
Chris Holbrook	1.39%	854
Sharon Anderson	0.79%	487
Tim Holden	0.72%	446
Trahern Jeen Crews	0.26%	162
Barnabas Y'shua	0.15%	94
Write-in votes	0.15%	92
Total Votes		61,646
Source: Ramsey County, Minnesota, "Election Results," accessed November 28, 2017

2015

See also: St. Paul, Minnesota municipal elections, 2015

The city of St. Paul, Minnesota, held elections for city council on November 3, 2015. Because the city uses instant-runoff voting, there was no primary election. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was August 11, 2015. In the Ward 1 race, incumbent Dai Thao defeated Trahern Jeen Crews in the general election.

St. Paul City Council Ward 1 General Election, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Dai Thao Incumbent	84.2%	2,503
Trahern Jeen Crews	14%	416
Write-in votes	1.8%	54
Total Votes		2,973
Source: Ramsey County, Minnesota, "Resolution: RES 15-1989," November 14, 2015

Campaign themes

2019

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Dai Thao did not complete Ballotpedia's 2019 Candidate Connection survey.

2017

Thao's campaign website included the following themes for 2017:

“	Transportation Will not sit back and wait for the County to fix our roads, and will the repair the arterial roads in low income neighborhoods that have been neglected for too long Work with residents and business owners to include their voices and concerns for the Riverview Corridor (West 7th light rail), to increase the public transit access to more residents equitably and without upturning their lives in the process Ensure every home has safe and easy access to bike paths Public Safety Provide more training and make police pay competitive to retain officers who make relationships in the community. The increase in cost will be offset by the decrease in settlements the city will be paying Improve community-police trust, and expand fire and police services Early advocate for body cameras for SPPD and not allowing officers to view video before writing reports Continue the adoption of body cameras; ensure that officers are not allowed to view recordings before making their reports and develop a system to preserve the footage Work with City Attorney's office to expand restorative justice initiatives, including increased access to diversion and sentencing reform Government Accessibility Have quarterly town hall conversation that include members of the community, the respected State Senator(s), State Representative(s), and Council Member of that Ward Create Mayor's Committee of Community Leaders (consisting of non-profits, churches, businesses, universities, residents, and stakeholders) to perform on-going evaluation of the city and co-create solutions Prioritize awareness of new City initiatives and streamline response times to resident service requests Families Champion all day Pre-Kindergarten in the City of St. Paul Strengthen the partnership between St. Paul Public Schools and the City with measurable outcomes Create meaningful youth workforce and after school opportunities Increase affordable and senior housing to make sure that everyone can live in the neighborhood of their choice Environment & Recreation Continue to refine the new curbside recycling and trash programs, and add curbside compost to the list of city services Prioritize funding our neighborhood parks that our families grow up playing in and that make St. Paul the most livable city Look at creative tax incentives and permit changes that will encourage residents and business owners to incorporate renewable energy in their homes and buildings Economic Development Supports a $15 minimum wage and flexibility for small businesses while they build up the revenue to sustain the higher wages Cut red tape and use technology to streamline interactions with small business and City government Restructure the Street Maintenance Program (Right-of-Way Assessment) to make it fair. Work with non-property tax paying organizations of St. Paul to help mitigate the expense of maintaining our beloved city Promote St. Paul as great place to operate for businesses of every size Create greater access to capital for small businesses Create the Mayor's Committee of Business Partners (consisting of East Metro Fortune 500 CEOs and small business owners) to evaluate economic strategy and recruit new businesses and jobs to St. Paul Equity Committed to keeping St. Paul a Sanctuary City and protecting all of our neighbors, no matter where they come from, against persecution and deportation Will not infringe upon the right of the people to peacefully assemble or protest, and will not use the City's authority to enforce any policies that do Prioritize investment in traditionally ignored communities Champion allocation of resources equitably across the city, and expand the racial equity work of Mayor Chris Coleman	”
—Dai Thao (2017)

Endorsements

2017

Thao's campaign website included the following endorsements for 2017:

• Minnesota Nurses Association
• DFL Disability Caucus
• Our Revolution Minnesota
• TakeAction Minnesota
• AFSCME Local 8
• State Rep. Tim Mahoney (D)

See also

2019 Elections

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• St. Paul, Minnesota
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External links

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Candidate

St. Paul City Council Ward 1

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	St. Paul City Council Ward 1 2013-2022	Succeeded by Russel Balenger