Community hears from all 5 St. Paul mayoral race candidates

St. Paul mayoral candidates hold public forum

Monday night, the five candidates up to be the next St. Paul mayor came together to give residents their vision for the future if elected. FOX 9's Soyoung Kim was there.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The five candidates running for the St. Paul Mayor’s Office discussed priorities in front of a packed room at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church on Monday night.

Standing out in the field

What we know:

This race is a ranked-choice voting system. The St. Paul mayoral election is officially nonpartisan. 

Monday’s forum, and meet and greet with all five candidates, was organized by Fair Vote Minnesota.

St. Paul mayoral candidates discuss future at forum [FULL]

St. Paul mayoral candidates Melvin Carter, Yan Chen, Adam Dullinger, Kaohyl Vang Her and Mike Hilborn gathered together at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church Monday night to discuss their vision for the city's future if they are elected mayor.

There are four challengers running against incumbent Mayor Melvin Carter. State Representative Kaohly Her is likely the strongest challenger. Adam Dullinger is an engineer who said he is a problem solver. Yan Chen is a scientist who previously ran for city council. Mike HJilborn is a business owner, who previously ran for Minnesota House of Representatives.

Safety, housing, property taxes among top issues

What they're saying:

Safety, housing, and property taxes were some of the top issues discussed. Each candidate highlighted what they will prioritize.

"We’ve brought down violent crime by double digits in every category. We’ve doubled our investments to rebuild our streets and our infrastructure. And we’ve received more major investment signals right now in our city than we’ve seen in a long time," said Carter.

"I have a vision for what my city should look like. In that, I will be building affordable and abundant housing, a thriving economy, having safe neighborhoods, and defending our neighbors," said Her.

"I’m deeply passionate about how the city is built, how it’s designed. I consider myself an urbanist at heart. So, I’ve seen all that and I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t," said Dullinger.

"It’s time for us to solve the problem and costs. As a biophysicist for 30 years, I have the ability to untangle the issue for you," said Chen.

"We have to lower taxes, have to. Don’t want to, have to. We have a crime problem, serious crime problem. Businesses are also not moving into St. Paul and are leaving because of the crime that their employees have to deal with," said Hilborn.

What you can do:

Early voting has already started. Election Day is on Nov. 4.