In the four-way race for the Ward 4 seat on the St. Paul City Council, no candidate comes close to raising the kind of cash that Molly Coleman has commanded during her short time on the campaign trail.
Coleman, 33, has raised about $57,000 in five months, spending $22,000 of it as of her most recent campaign finance filing on July 24.
That’s more than double the $25,000 raised by Cole Hanson in the same period, and many times more than the $4,500 raised by Carolyn Will as of her lasting campaign finance filing mid-June, though Will said Thursday that she has raised additional dollars since.
Chauntyll Allen, a Ward 4 candidate who sits on the St. Paul Public Schools board, raised about $8,500 as of her latest filing with Ramsey County Elections on June 12.
“When I look at congressional races, I think about how many things we could do with that amount of money,” said Allen, who said she dislikes political fundraising, and other than an upcoming house party had done little of it. “I think I raised about $40,000 for my first campaign. I was like, ‘Do you know how many people we could help with this money? Do you know how many people I know who need rent support right now?’”
Special election to be held Aug. 12
The special election for the seat — which represents Hamline-Midway, Merriam Park, St. Anthony Park and parts of Macalester-Groveland and Como — will be held Aug. 12.
How has Coleman — a graduate of Harvard Law School, the director of a nonprofit and the daughter of former St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman — broken away from the pack financially?
Her campaign coffers have benefited from the generous support of politicians, real estate developers, lobbyists, attorneys, political action committees and other members of organizations that could be described as politically left, right and center.
“I’m proud of that,” said Coleman, in an interview Thursday. “I’m really proud that I’ve had support from a whole host of folks who don’t necessarily agree with me on everything, but they see me as somebody who is ready to lead, who cares deeply about the city of St. Paul, and who is ready to meet the moment that we find ourselves in.”
The rent control question
The amount of campaign cash donated by the real estate community, in particular, hasn’t escaped the notice of the other Ward 4 candidates.
The seven-member city council has hosted a number of votes that have split 4-3, like the decision last May to roll back rent control protections in buildings built after 2004, and developers and their legal representatives appear eager to have a seat at the table.
“It’s about whose voices will be heard at City Hall,” said Hanson, a Twin Cities DSA-aligned candidate. “Lobbyists and developers will always write checks to reserve their office time early if they can.”
Coleman has said she supported the council’s May amendment, given the need to jump-start lagging housing construction, and she sees no reason for further changes to rent control at this time. Hanson, on the other hand, had called for preserving rent control for further study rather than watering it down.
A variety of donors
Coleman’s donors, however, run a wide gamut. They include a bartender at the Black Hart bar on University Avenue, the owner of the Mischief Toy Store on Grand Avenue, employees of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, a substitute teacher at the Twin Cities German Immersion School and a social worker at Brighton Hospice.
She’s also received donations from former U.S. Sen. Al Franken, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, former Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak, former St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell and Sam and Sylvia Kaplan, who are well-known donors in Minneapolis progressive circles.
Multiple attorneys with the litigation and lobbying firm Lockridge Grindal Nauen contributed to Coleman’s campaign, as did Ryan C. Kelly, principal of Synergetic Endeavors consulting and co-founder of the Primacy Strategy Group, which is co-owned by the law firm. An affiliated political action committee, the Primacy PAC, donated additional dollars.
Another donor was Brian Rice, of Rice Walther & Mosley. Rice’s clients have included the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Fraternal Association, as well as the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board. In those capacities, Rice worked closely for years with Bob Kroll, the controversial former president of the Minneapolis police union.
“That is not somebody that I’ve ever had a meeting with, that I’ve ever had a conversation with,” said Coleman, of the Rice donation. “I’m committed to police accountability, I’m committed to true public safety, and using pro-active steps, not using police as our first step toward public safety.”
“If people are projecting Minneapolis political dynamics onto this race,” she added, “feel free to come over and learn about St. Paul.”
Real estate donors
Coleman’s financial backers also include notables from the real estate industry, some of whom have also supported Republican politicians in the past. She noted that those contributors run from nonprofit donors committed to affordable housing to private sector developers involved in market-rate housing, a reflection of her interest in generating housing at all price points.
Her campaign contributors have included Maureen Michalski, a regional senior vice president with the Ryan Companies, the master developer behind Highland Bridge at the former Twin Cities Ford auto manufacturing campus in Highland Park.
Other donors have included Howard Paster of Paster Properties, Deann Weis of Weis Builders, Renee Spillum of the University of Minnesota Foundation’s UMFREA real estate advisers, Ari Parritz of Afton Park Development, Henry Parker of CommonBond Communities, Stephen Wellington of Wellington Management, Christopher Sherman of Sherman Associates and Jamey Flannery of Flannery Construction.
Political action committees backing Coleman financially include those affiliated with the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters and the Legal Defense Fund (for Black American voting rights).
Hanson has generally drawn smaller donations from less well-known backers mostly based in St. Paul, which he’s described as a strength, not a weakness. His politically-linked donors have included St. Paul City Council Member Nelsie Yang, Minneapolis City Council Member Robin Wonsley, state Rep. Athena Rollins, Luke Mielke of the Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America and others involved in the Twin Cities DSA, which has officially endorsed his candidacy.
Allen, Will donors
In addition, Allen, Coleman and Hanson all received donations from a political action committee associated with St. Paul Fire Fighters Local 21. “Firefighters Local 21 being my only PAC contribution is kind of fun,” Hanson said.
Allen’s donors have included Hoang Murphy, chief executive officer of the People Serving People emergency shelter, fellow school board member Carlo Franco and several educators and city employees.
Allen said she was unaware of the names of other donors. “I don’t even look at fundraising. I have a fundraising person, and when people try to give me money, I point to her and say, ‘Give it to Amelia,’” Allen said on Thursday. “I honestly don’t even know any specifics like that.”
Will said she’s raised about $10,000 since her last filing in June. Her donors have included a wide mix of people, she said, including “maybe six or seven” individuals opposed to the city’s proposed Summit Avenue bikeway, as well as former St. Paul City Council Member Jane Prince and several members of her own family and her husband’s college fraternity.
“They recognize that I’ve run my own business,” said Will, a former television newscaster who operates her own public relations group and until recently edited a newsletter against the bikeway. “I’ve had dealings with the city. Other people are concerned about downtown.”
Election 2025: St. Paul City Council special election (Ward 4)
St. Paul school board will ask voters for tax hike on November ballot
St. Paul Ward 4 council race: Forums scheduled, endorsements roll in
Four candidates file for Ward 4 seat on the St. Paul City Council
Climate action group schedules first Ward 4 candidate forum
While the race is officially nonpartisan and the St. Paul DFL is not making endorsements this summer, Allen, Coleman and Hanson all spent campaign dollars to access software affiliated with Democratic causes or the Minnesota DFL. Those tools include ActBlue and the MN DFL Action Network, two online platforms that create text message alerts, template fundraising pitches and other campaign instruments for progressive causes and candidates.
