St. Paul residents went to the polls in unexpectedly heavy numbers Tuesday to choose between re-electing St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter to a third term in office or elevating one of four challengers to the role.

Among those challengers, the ranked-choice election included state Rep. Kaohly Her, who entered the mayor’s race in August with a strong following but a short lead time to make her case for overhauling leadership at City Hall.

Early returns showed Carter and Her virtually neck-and-neck, with just 11 of 86 precincts reporting and Her ahead by little more than a percentage point, or 100 votes.

While hand counts — St. Paul’s traditional method of determining the winner in an instant run-off election — can take days, results in the mayor’s race were expected late Tuesday night, thanks

See Full Page