Noel Nix told me a month ago that he would run in November for his boss's Ward 1 St. Paul City Council seat, and now he's made it official.
Nix, who's been Melvin Carter III's legislative aide since 2011, held a campaign launch event at Selby Avenue's Golden Thyme Coffee shop Saturday.
Carter's announced last month that he was stepping down in July to take a job with the state education department. That set off a complicated flurry of political activity, with people rushing to run for the seat in November, and others to fill in on a temporary basis until the election.
So far, eight names seem to be in the hat for the November election, while 14 have applied for the temporary position.
The City Council, which prefers to appoint someone to the temporary position who won't run in November, plans a June 12 interview session with these folks who've applied for the temporary job:
- Marvin Roger Anderson
- Matthew Brenengen
- Warsan Farah
- Robin Hickman
- Nathaniel A. Khaliq
- Patty Lammers
- John Loban
- Devin Miller
- Nick Seeberger
- Darryl Spence
- Jacqui Shoholm
- Lori Stee
- Renee Tyler
- Timothy Doherty
Once that's resolved, more attention will go to the November race, where voters — using ranked-choice voting — will elect someone to finish the final two years of Carter's term.
Currently in the running for the two-year spot:
- Debbie Montgomery, former Ward 1 Council Member and retired police officer
- Kazoua Kong-Thao, a former school board member
- Matt Hill, of the Heritage Preservation Commission
- Johnny Howard, who ran against Carter two years ago
- Noel Nix, Carter's council aide
- Dai Thao, an IT manager who's worked on progressive causes
- Mark Voerding, a former aide to Ward 1 Council Member Bill Wilson; now aide to Ramsey County Commissioner Janice Rettman
- Paul Holmgren reportedly has been recruited to run as a Republican; he ran once for the state House, and is not the NHL Paul Holmgren.