5 days ago
St. Paul Ward 4 council race: Forums scheduled, endorsements roll in
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce's political action committee are backing nonprofit founder Molly Coleman for the open Ward 4 seat on the city council, as are a series of labor unions. Members of Starbucks Workers United plan to knock doors alongside Ward 4 candidate Cole Hanson, who has drawn endorsements from City Council Member Nelsie Yang and the Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America.
Chauntyll Allen, a leader of Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, has received the support of a number of elected officials, including Ramsey County Commissioner Rena Moran, fellow school board members Halla Henderson, Carlo Franco and Jim Vue, and City Council Member Anika Bowie. Carolyn Will, a former television journalist turned marketing specialist, is the latest candidate to jump in the race for Ward 4.
With early voting opening Friday, political endorsements are rolling in for the four candidates, who will meet in at least six candidate forums leading up to the Aug. 12 special election.
Voters in the city's Ward 4 neighborhoods — Hamline-Midway, Merriam Park, St. Anthony Park and parts of Macalester-Groveland and Como — will choose their next council member by ranked-choice ballot, which means they may rank all four candidates by order of preference.
The candidates include Allen, who serves on the St. Paul Board of Education; Coleman, the founder of the nonprofit People's Parity Project, which seeks progressive court reform; Hanson, a statewide online education coordinator who teaches nutrition to recipients of federal food assistance, or SNAP; and Will, founder of CW Marketing and Communications.
With the St. Paul DFL not hosting caucuses or endorsing conventions for Ward 4 this summer or in this year's mayor's race, other endorsements could gain more prominence, as could candidate forums. The position is officially non-partisan but typically draws strong partisan interest.
'I was kind of disappointed that the St. Paul DFL wasn't going to have an endorsement process,' said Al Oertwig, chair of the St. Paul chapter of the DFL Senior Caucus. The Senior Caucus will convene a Ward 4candidate forum from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday in the meeting room at Mississippi Market, 740 East Seventh St.
The St. Paul Historic Preservation Political Committee, which advocates for historic building preservation in the, will host its July 14 forum at Hamline Methodist Church, 1514 Englewood Ave. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the forum is expected to conclude at 8 p.m. There is no admission charge. For more information, visit the organization's website at Questions from the audience will be accepted, time permitting.
Additional forums will be hosted by the Metropolitan Interfaith Council on Affordable Housing, or MICAH, on July 17; the League of Women Voters on July 22; and the Senate District 64 DFL on July 30.
Unidos MN held an hour-long climate forum with the candidates on May 27, and video of the forum is online at
Allen, who was born and raised in Rondo, is the founder of Love First Community Engagement, which connects volunteers to work with Black youth. In addition to counting on the support of Moran, Henderson, Franco, Vue and Bowie, her endorsements include the Stonewall DFL, the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund and civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong. Her campaign website is
'From my family's displacement from Rondo to seeing my former students on the streets to difficulty finding affordable housing for me and my wife, I know what fellow residents are facing because I live it everyday,' said Allen, in a recent statement.
She was not immediately available for comment Monday, but she publicly listed her core priorities as 'housing options for all,' community safety, economic stability and workforce and youth development.
Coleman, daughter of former St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, lives in Hamline-Midway with her husband and 1 1/2-year-old son. Her major endorsements include the mayor, former Council President Amy Brendmoen, state Sen. Clare Oumou Verbeten, DFL-St. Paul, Ramsey County Commissioner Garrison McMurtrey, Council Member Saura Jost and interim Council Member Matt Privratsky. Her campaign website site is
Coleman also has the support of Sustain St. Paul, gun control advocates Moms Demand Action, the St. Paul Building Trades, the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 82 and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 110.
'It's helpful, especially in an election without a DFL endorsement, to know there have been real screenings,' said Coleman, who is running on the platform of economic and social justice and inclusivity. 'But ultimately, it will be up to the voters.'
Hanson lives near Snelling and University avenues in the Midway and has a young child. In addition to receiving the backing of Nelsie Yang and the Twin Cities DSA, he's received an official endorsement from Minneapolis City Council Member Robin Wonsley and a series of everyday Ward 4 residents he features prominently on his website. His campaign website is
The International Association of Firefighters Local 21 and the St. Paul Federation of Educators Local 28 have not made official endorsements in the race, but both organizations gave Hanson letters of recommendation. In July, he plans to go door knocking alongside Starbucks Workers United using the campaign banner 'St. Paul is a Union Town.'
'I'm really proud of that one,' said Hanson, a former president of the Hamline-Midway Coalition, whose platform includes advocating for a downtown municipal grocery and city-owned affordable and market-rate housing. 'They're scrappers. They're really fighting for what they want to win. They're retail workers, and they're organizing against billionaires who own Starbucks.'
Will spent Monday in Bemidji helping her parents clean up after storm damage and was not available for comment. She has lived in four wards in St. Paul for 33 years, and has two adult children and one grandchild.
Will, who has been active in efforts to oppose the Summit Avenue bikeway and force changes to the city's prospective tree preservation ordinance, said in a recent campaign statement she is a politically-moderate independent who believes in 'safety that starts with accountability and neighbors helping neighbors, budgets that respect taxpayers, and a city that welcomes growth without forgetting its roots.'
Former Ward 4 Council Member Mitra Jalali stepped down from office in February, citing health concerns, and interim Council Member Matt Privratsky was later appointed by the mayor's office to fill her role until voters elect a new member to complete the four-year term, which ends in 2028. In November, voters will choose between three candidates for mayor — Carter, Yan Chen and Mike Hilborn — and determine whether to give the city council the option of imposing non-criminal fines, or administrative citations, on rule-breakers.
Watch this space for updates to this story.
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