St. Paul has all-female council, a first in U.S.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — When

St. Paul City Council President Mitra Jalali looked out at her fellow council members at their initial meeting this week, she saw all the members’ seats were occupied by women — a first for Minnesota’s capital city.

Experts who track women in politics said St. Paul, with a population of 300,000 people, is the first large U.S. city they know of with an all-female council. Council members are expressing more excitement about what the all-female council can accomplish in the coming year.

“We’re a multifaith, multicultural group of women. Our professional experiences are what people trusted as much as our personal ones. … And we have a clear policy vision that we got elected on,” Jalali said.

All seven women are under 40, and six out of the seven are women of color. From civil engineering to nonprofit directing, they have a range of professional experiences. “I think that our community is finally reflected by the City Council,” Jalali said, adding, “The median age of our community is 32.5. We are a majority person-of-color city. We have many major racial and ethnic groups, many of which are now represented on this council.”

The Rutgers data shows women continue to be underrepresented as municipal officials. Jean Sinzdak, associate director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, said 7 out of 10 municipal office holders are male, and most are white. “The fact that you have an all-female council and a majority of women of color, it has a long-term effect on young women and girls seeing them and saying, ‘I can do this, too,’ ” Sinzdak said.