St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her is being investigated for sexual harassment after the city's police chief, Axel Henry, filed a formal complaint. The complaint says Her sent inappropriate messages to city employees, including police department staff. An outside law firm is looking into the claims.

The story was first reported by the New York Times and NBC News around July 28, 2026, with the Guardian providing more detail on July 30, 2026. Her, a Democrat, was elected in November 2025 and is the first female mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota. She had been in office for about seven months when the news broke. She defeated the previous mayor, Melvin Carter, in a close election after serving six years in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Her, 53, was born in Laos and came to the United States at age three as part of a resettlement program after the Vietnam War.

Chief Henry, who has led the St. Paul Police Department since 2022, filed the complaint that started the investigation. According to the Guardian, Henry's lawyer, Chris Madel, wrote a letter dated April 1 to the city attorney alleging that Her carried out a prolonged campaign of harassment against multiple workers using mobile phones. The letter reportedly includes a screenshot of an alleged message from Her to an employee reading "Happy Weiner Wednesday" with laughing emojis and a caption referencing sexual intercourse.

Madel told the New York Times that Chief Henry would not give media interviews but "will do everything to ensure that appropriate conduct is modeled and followed in the St Paul police department." The letter said Henry made a "thoughtful, deliberate decision" to file the complaint because he wanted to protect city and police employees from further harassment or retaliation.

The city hired an outside law firm to investigate. Cally Kjellberg-Nelson, an employment law expert at the firm Resolute Law, is leading the inquiry.

Mayor Her gave a written statement to NBC News saying she cooperated with the investigation and that "some of my attempts at humor fell short of the standard I expect of myself." Her spokesperson, Matt Wagenius, told the New York Times he could not answer questions about the ongoing investigation and that the mayor "regrets any unintended impact her actions may have had."

The broader context here is that this situation is complicated by how St. Paul's government is set up. In St. Paul, the mayor is the boss of city departments, including the police. That means the police chief works under the mayor. When a subordinate files a complaint against their boss, it creates a structural problem, not just a personal one, because the normal chain of command is disrupted while the investigation is happening.

Her's statement that her humor "fell short" is a partial admission. It acknowledges that her messages may have caused problems, but it does not admit to harassment. Her spokesperson's phrase about regretting "unintended impact" follows a pattern often seen in public sexual harassment cases: saying the effect was real but the intent was not. Whether that explanation satisfies investigators, city employees, or the public is a different question from whether the messages break the law under Minnesota's harassment rules.

The city chose an outside law firm rather than handling the complaint internally because a mayor being investigated creates a conflict of interest. The outcome of the investigation, and any action the St. Paul City Council might take afterward, is still pending.