St. Paul makes history with all-female city council, a rarity among large U.S. cities

By TRISHA AHMED and STEVE KARNOWSKI
Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — St. Paul, Minnesota, has an all-woman city council for the first time in its history — and experts say it may be the largest U.S. city to ever have an all-woman council. All seven of St. Paul’s city council members are now under 40 years old, and six out of the seven are women of color. Mitra Jalali, the council’s president, says she thinks the city’s community is finally reflected by the council. Members held their first city council meeting on Wednesday after getting sworn in the day before. According to researchers at Rutgers University, St. Paul is the largest U.S. city they are aware of to ever have an all-female city council.