St. Paul voters elect a young, diverse - and possibly all-female - City Council

When St. Paul's new City Council is sworn in early next year, it may be the city's youngest, most racially diverse - and its first made up entirely of women.

Voters on Tuesday re-elected incumbents Rebecca Noecker, Mitra Jalali and Nelsie Yang, and elected first-time candidates Saura Jost and Hwa Jeong Kim. The two remaining races, in the First and Seventh wards, won't have declared winners until at least Friday due to the city's ranked-choice voting system. But women of color are leading in both contests.

"It's such a huge milestone. A very historical one," Yang said Wednesday. "The face of the St. Paul City Council is going to be drastically different and going to inspire so many more people who are young, people who are from communities of color, people who have always been told that they don't belong at the table."

https://www.startribune.com/st-paul-voters-elect-a-young-diverse-and-possibly-all-female-city-council/600318330/