Ramsey County election judges on Monday confirmed civil engineer Saura Jost’s victory in the Third Ward City Council race in St. Paul, wrapping up a historic election year for Minnesota’s capital city.

Voters last week elected women to all seven of the City Council’s seats, six of whom are people of color. When the new council is sworn in at the start of next year, all seven members will be under the age of 40.

Jost, 35, declared victory on election night after her closest opponent, Isaac Russell, conceded. But since Jost received 48% of first-choice votes, falling short of a majority, election officials went through the reallocation process required by the city’s ranked-choice voting system.

“What we really heard in our ward — and across the city — is everyone really wanted to see our community-centered politics,” Jost said in an interview last week. “I’m just so excited to be able to represent the community that raised me.”

Campaign representatives were allowed to watch ballots being counted and sorted, but could not challenge vote counts. The opportunity for challenges will come after Wednesday, when the City Council certifies the election results.

The Third Ward, which includes the Highland Park and Macalester-Groveland neighborhoods, had the highest turnout in the city, with about 13,400 ballots cast. The ward’s seat was open for the first time in 12 years after three-term Council Member Chris Tolbert decided not to seek re-election.

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