St. Paul swears in all-female City Council in historic first

The St. Paul, Minn., city council made history Tuesday when each of its seven seats were filled by women for the first time in the city’s history.

Four of the seven members sworn in at an inauguration ceremony were incoming freshman. Anika Bowie, Saura Jost, HwaJeong Kim and Cheniqua Johnson joined incumbents Mitra Jalali, Rebecca Noecker and Nelsie Yang, MPR News reported.

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan addressed the crowd at the inauguration event and said her “heart is overflowing.”

“I’m honored to be here today to celebrate these incredible leaders, all that they have accomplished to get here and all of the work they will accomplish together on behalf of the City of St. Paul,” Flanagan said. “But really, for all of us, a city council’s inauguration is exciting as is, but to have an all woman city council, and the majority of whom are women of color, leaves me, which is hard to do, nearly speechless.”

St. Paul is now among the largest cities in the U.S. to have an all-female city council. Each member is under 40 years old, and six members are women of color, making the group the youngest and most racially diverse in the city’s history, Flanagan said.  

Flanagan said while swearing in a city council with this makeup is historic, “it should also simply be the way it is, the norm.”

“Because even though these systems were not built for women, especially women of color, we are making our voices heard every single day. We are leaders,” she said. “As the youngest and most progressive and most diverse city council in St. Paul’s history. I am excited to see what this city council is able to accomplish with women of color leading the way.”

City Council President Jalali also spoke at the inauguration, where she offered “thoughts and prayers” to those who are uncomfortable with the all-female, women of color majority.

“If you read my Twitter replies lately, the responses sure are something. They’re fighting for their lives in there,” Jalali said. “Let’s just say a whole lot of people who are comfortable with majority male, majority white institutions for nearly 170 years of city history are suddenly sharply concerned about representation.”

“My thoughts and prayers are with them in this challenging time,” she added, the crowd erupting in cheers.

Kim, who will oversee the city’s Ward 5, posted photos from the evening on X, formerly Twitter, with the caption “St Paula Seven.”

While St. Paul is believed to be the largest city with a council now represented entirely by women, others are making history as well. The City of Asheville, North Carolina, also has an all-female city council, making state history in 2020.