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Kaohly Her

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Kaohly Her
Nonpartisan
Mayor of St. Paul
Tenure
2026 - Present
Term ends
2029
Years in position
0
Predecessor: Melvin Carter III
Prior offices:
Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A
Years in office: 2019 - 2025
Predecessor: Erin Murphy (D)
Successor: Meg Luger-Nikolai (D)
Elections and appointments
Last election
November 4, 2025
Education
Bachelor's
University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1995
Graduate
Northeastern University, 2011
Personal
Profession
Legislator
Contact
Official website
Campaign website
Campaign Facebook
Campaign Instagram
Campaign YouTube
Personal Facebook
Personal Instagram
Personal LinkedIn

Kaohly Her is the Mayor of St. Paul in Minnesota. She assumed office on January 2, 2026. Her current term ends on January 8, 2029.

Her ran for election for Mayor of St. Paul in Minnesota. She won in the general election on November 4, 2025.

Her completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Mayoral elections in St. Paul are nonpartisan. Before she was elected mayor, Her was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

Her resigned from the Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A on November 17, 2025, after being elected mayor of St. Paul in Minnesota.[1]

Biography

Kaohly Her's career experience includes working as a legislator. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1995 and a graduate degree from Northeastern University in 2011.[2]

Her has been affiliated with the following organizations:[2]

  • Minnesota House DFL Caucus
  • Maiv PAC
  • City of Saint Paul
  • Coalition of Asian American Leaders
  • Hnub Tshiab: Hmong Women Achieving Together
  • Minnesota Philanthropy Partners
  • Saint Paul Public Schools

Elections

2025

See also: Mayoral election in St. Paul, Minnesota (2025)

General election

General election for Mayor of St. Paul

The ranked-choice voting election was won by Kaohly Her 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.

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 67,617
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Endorsements

Her received the following endorsements. To view a full list of Her's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here.

  • New American Leaders Action Fund

2024

See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A

Incumbent Kaohly Her defeated Dan Walsh in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Kaohly Her
Kaohly Her (D)
 
83.2
 
20,441
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Dan Walsh (R)
 
16.6
 
4,080
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.2
 
56

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 24,577
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Kaohly Her advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Dan Walsh advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A.

Campaign finance

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Her in this election.

2022

See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A

Incumbent Kaohly Her defeated Dan Walsh in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Kaohly Her
Kaohly Her (D)
 
85.1
 
18,080
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Dan Walsh (R)
 
14.7
 
3,128
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.2
 
34

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 21,242
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Kaohly Her advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Dan Walsh advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A.

2020

See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A

Incumbent Kaohly Her defeated Sherry Schack in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Kaohly Her
Kaohly Her (D)
 
85.6
 
20,621
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Sherry Schack (R)
 
14.2
 
3,419
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.2
 
44

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 24,084
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Kaohly Her advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Sherry Schack advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A.

Campaign finance

2018

See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A

Kaohly Her defeated Patrick Griffin in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Kaohly Her
Kaohly Her (D)
 
84.1
 
18,995
Image of Patrick Griffin
Patrick Griffin (R) Candidate Connection
 
15.6
 
3,532
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.2
 
49

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 22,576
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A

Kaohly Her advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A on August 14, 2018.

Candidate
✔
Image of Kaohly Her
Kaohly Her

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A

Patrick Griffin advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A on August 14, 2018.

Candidate
✔
Image of Patrick Griffin
Patrick Griffin Candidate Connection

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Kaohly Her completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Her's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

Hi, I’m Kaohly Her. I’m a mom, a finance and non-profit professional, and State Representative for Saint Paul. I’m running for mayor to be an advocate for our values and to ensure our city runs efficiently and transparently.

I am a leader who has worked in our public schools, at City Hall, in corporate boardrooms, and at the Minnesota Capitol. I’m ready to bring my experience as a champion for affordable housing, safe communities, a vibrant economy, and our neighbors’ rights to City Hall.

As a city, we face significant challenges that must be met with strong leadership and true collaboration to defend our community and our democracy. We need a leader who will bring people together to hear their perspectives and forge ahead with an inclusive vision for the future. We need a leader who knows that we are stronger together, and that’s how I’ll govern as your mayor.

Three major components will help get Saint Paul back on track and out of the trap that ‘ok is good enough.’ These are the main principles I will use to govern our city. We need safe communities, a vibrant economy, and affordable, abundant housing.
  • Safe Communities We all deserve to feel safe in our neighborhoods. Non-police emergency calls have doubled in the last year. We face continued challenges with mental health and drug use. I’ll support all of our first responders and build strong partnerships with county and state partners to make all of our neighborhoods safer.
  • Vibrant economy A thriving economy is essential for our city. Development has stalled — at the Ford site, Midway, and downtown. We are losing critical retailers in our neighborhoods, like grocery stores and restaurants, and our tax base is stretched thin. We must collaborate with residents, community organizations, local unions, developers, and the state to help Saint Paul’s economy thrive.
  • Affordable, abundant housing We all deserve a place to call home. I've heard from too many of our neighbors, from students to seniors, that housing is too expensive. As mayor, I’ll work with the county and state to build more public housing, local independent developers to build affordable housing, and large developers to build more market-rate units.
I have shown leadership in a number of areas in my career in Saint Paul City Hall and at the Minnesota Legislature, including:

- Gun Violence Prevention
- Tenants Rights and Housing Availability
- Public Pensions and Retirement Policy
- Reproductive Health Care
- Equal Rights Amendment
- Investments in Renewable Energy Technology
- Public Education Funding for English Language Learners
- Minimum Wage Increases
- Affordability of Health Care

- Protecting Workers' Rights
Integrity and Determination are two key qualities for an elected official.
One of the Mayor's most important roles is to be the biggest cheerleader and advocate for the city. We need a mayor who can attract businesses and investments in the city by recruiting them directly and highlighting our world-class workforce. The Mayor of Saint Paul is the person in charge of making the city run effectively. This means that garbage gets picked up on time, this means that businesses receive permits in a timely manor, and this means that residents across all parts of the city feel safe.
The Mayor should be a collaborative partner with the City Council, especially as they all consider the individual sections of the city, we need to count on the mayor to provide bold vision rooted in what can get done for the entire city. If elected mayor, I will hold city departments accountable and ensure that they work with our residents to achieve the goals of the city - which are for a vibrant economy, affordable and abundant housing, and safe communities.
I love this city. Thanks to the opportunities afforded my family, we have been able to break the cycle of poverty in one generation.
The biggest challenge that our city faces is our ability to weather the low property tax base into the future of our city. We must find a way to grow housing (public, affordable, and market-rate) and commercial real estate across the entire city.

Our most significant opportunity in Saint Paul is that we have an excellent base of workers and residents across the entire city that can meet the challenges before us. Our workforce is high-quality and full of potential that can take us forward into the future.
The relationship between Saint Paul and the Minnesota Legislature must be collaborative and based on mutual trust and respect. In my time at the Legislature, I have cultivated relationships across the aisle and in both chambers. We must work at the different levels of government to support Saint Paul residents with what they need to build a vibrant economy, ensure our communities are safe, and build more affordable housing.
New American Leaders Action Fund, SMART Local 10, Saint Paul City Council Member Nelsie Yang, Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and Yvette Hoffman, Minnesota House DFL Leader Representative Zack Stephenson, Minnesota State Representative Patty Acomb, Minnesota State Representative Kaela Berg, Minnesota State Representative Josiah Hill, Minnesota State Representative John Huot, Minnesota State Representative Pete Johnson, Minnesota State Representative Brad Tabke, Minnesota State Representative Sam Vang, Minnesota State Representative Dan Wolgamott
When touring a recently renovated business, I talked to the business owner, who operates an African grocery store. He detailed how he has worked with the city and the state economic development agency to secure retrofitting funds and investments in the building to make his business more successful. He told me that all of these investments were to the benefit of the building owner and not to his business, and that he could not afford to buy his own building. We must change that reality for him as well as numerous other business owners across the city.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2024

Kaohly Her did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Kaohly Her did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Kaohly Her did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Kaohly Her campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024Minnesota House of Representatives District 64AWon general$54,153 $67,932
2022Minnesota House of Representatives District 64AWon general$54,753 $59,405
2020Minnesota House of Representatives District 64AWon general$26,865 N/A**
2018Minnesota House of Representatives District 64AWon general$28,258 N/A**
Grand total$164,029 $127,337
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Election Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

State legislative tenure

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Minnesota

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Minnesota scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.


2024


2023


2022


2021


2020


2019


2018






The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Committee assignments

2025-2026

Her was assigned to the following committees:

2023-2024

Her was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Her was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Her was assigned to the following committees:


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External links

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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ KSTP ABC 5 Eyewitness News (Minneapolis, Minnesota), "St. Paul Mayor-elect Her resigns from Minnesota House seat," November 14, 2025
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 16, 2025

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    Melvin Carter III     		Mayor of St. Paul
    2026-Present    		 Succeeded by
    -
    Preceded by
    Erin Murphy (D)     		Minnesota House of Representatives District 64A
    2019-2025    		 Succeeded by
    Meg Luger-Nikolai (D)
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