Ex-Sen. Nicole Mitchell wins Woodbury council seat

Former Minnesota state senator Nicole Mitchell has been elected to the Woodbury City Council, securing one of two at-large seats in a crowded 10-candidate race that could still face a recount challenge.^[1]

Unofficial results show Mitchell finished second with 7,387 votes, or 13.27% of the total, edging out incumbent council member Steve Morris by just 101 votes, a margin narrow enough to allow Morris to request a city-funded recount once the results are canvassed.^[1]

Mitchell's return to elected office comes about a year after she resigned from the Minnesota Senate following her conviction in a high-profile burglary case in Detroit Lakes. She was found guilty in 2025 and sentenced to six months in a work-release program, a penalty that drew intense media scrutiny because she was a sitting DFL legislator at the time. She stepped down from her Senate seat shortly after sentencing but has maintained her innocence and currently has an appeal pending in that criminal case.

Before her legal troubles, Mitchell, a former Air National Guard lieutenant colonel and TV meteorologist, had been seen as a rising figure in DFL politics, representing a suburban district and focusing on issues including veterans affairs and housing. Her decision to run for local office in Woodbury marked a shift from state-level politics and tested whether voters in one of the Twin Cities' largest suburbs were willing to separate her criminal case and continuing appeal from her record and platform on city issues such as development, public safety, and growth management.

The razor-thin margin over an incumbent and the possibility of a recount mean the result may not be fully settled until city officials complete their canvass and Morris decides whether to seek a review, but for now the outcome positions Mitchell for a political comeback on a smaller stage with high local visibility.^[1]

1. FOX 9