St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her is under investigation for sexual harassment after Police Chief Axel Henry filed a formal complaint alleging that Her sent inappropriate messages to city employees, including members of the police department. An outside law firm is conducting the independent inquiry.

The story was first reported by the New York Times and NBC News around July 28, 2026, with the Guardian providing additional detail on July 30, 2026. Her, a Democrat elected in November 2025, is the first female mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota. She had been in office for roughly seven months when the investigation became public. She defeated incumbent mayor Melvin Carter in a close, two-round 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 following the Vietnam War.

Chief Henry, who has led the St. Paul Police Department since 2022, filed the complaint that triggered the investigation. According to the Guardian, Attorney Chris Madel, representing Henry, wrote a letter dated April 1 to St. Paul city attorney Irene Kao alleging that Her engaged in a prolonged campaign of harassment against multiple workers "using one or more mobile phones." Madel's 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 from Madel stated that Henry made a "thoughtful, deliberate decision" to file a formal complaint because he wanted to protect city and police department employees from continued harassment or retaliation.

City leaders contracted an outside law firm to conduct the independent inquiry. Cally Kjellberg-Nelson, an employment law expert at the firm Resolute Law, is conducting the investigation into the allegations against Her.

Mayor Her provided a written statement to NBC News stating she cooperated with the investigation and that "some of my attempts at humor fell short of the standard I expect of myself." Matt Wagenius, a spokesperson for Her, 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 complaint places a newly elected mayor in a difficult position less than a year into her term. The complaint originates from the police chief, a department head who reports to the mayor in St. Paul's strong-mayor governance structure. In a strong-mayor system, the mayor holds executive authority over city departments, meaning the police chief is effectively the mayor's subordinate. When a subordinate files a complaint against their superior, the conflict is not merely personal but structural, raising questions about how city government functions while the investigation runs its course.

Her's acknowledgment that her "attempts at humor fell short" is a partial concession that stops short of admitting harassment. The spokesperson's formulation, expressing regret for "unintended impact," follows a familiar pattern in public sexual harassment responses: acknowledging effect while disputing intent. Whether that framing satisfies investigators, city employees, or the public is a separate question from whether the messages themselves meet the legal threshold for harassment under Minnesota state and municipal employment law.

The involvement of an outside law firm, rather than an internal city human resources process, reflects the conflict-of-interest concerns that arise when a mayor is the subject of a complaint. The selection of Kjellberg-Nelson, whose practice at Resolute Law focuses on employment matters, places the inquiry within a recognized investigative framework. The outcome of that investigation, and any subsequent action by the St. Paul City Council or other governing bodies, remains pending.