Mayor Melvin Carter
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The City of St. Paul will elect its next mayor in a Nov. 4, 2025, election.
On Monday, Melvin Carter officially filed for re-election. Three other candidates are also running in the race.
Melvin Carter files
What we know:
Carter will be seeking his third term as the leader of St. Paul.
He replaced Chris Coleman in 2017 after Coleman, who had the seat since 2006, decided not to run for a fourth term. In 2017, Carter earned 50.86% of the vote over Pat Harris and Dai Thao.
In 2021, Carter earned 61.63% of the vote to beat out Dino Guerin, Paul Langenfeld and Bill Hosko and earn his second term.
Mayor Carter’s office says his next campaign will focus on getting tools to address the fentanyl crisis, ensure safe and accessible public spaces, get better pay for union jobs, continue revitalizing downtown and providing quality housing.
Carter is currently leading the City of St. Paul through a cyberattack that has impacted internal systems and forced residents to go to city offices in-person for permits and to make payments that are normally electronic.
Rep. Kaohly Vang Her announces run
Why you should care:
Carter will have some competition, as State Rep. Kaohly Vang Her on Monday announced her run for St. Paul mayor. The 52-year-old worked for Carter as a policy director in his first term as mayor.
Her is now a State Rep. in District 64A of the Minnesota Legislature, which includes the Macalester-Groveland, Cathedral Hill, Lexington-Hamilton and Merriam Park neighborhoods.
She made headlines in June, when during the legislative session she said on the floor, "My family broke the law to come here." She was referencing MinnesotaCare cuts to undocumented immigrants. The comment fueled speculation she was undocumented, but she is a U.S. citizen who was a Hmong refugee from Laos in the 1970s. She became a naturalized citizen in junior high school.
Who else is running for St. Paul mayor?
Dig deeper:
Two other candidates have announced they're also running to be the next mayor of St. Paul:
How the election works
Local perspective:
St. Paul chooses its mayor through ranked-choice voting. The mayor typically serves a four-year term, without term limits, but the person elected in 2025 will serve a three-year term. This is because last year, St. Paul voters approved a ballot measure to move the city's mayoral and city council elections to presidential years starting in 2028. As a result, whoever wins this year will serve a three-year term, with the next mayoral race in 2028.
For information on how to vote, click here.