Coleman tipping his re-election hand?

Even before the results were in for this year's city council elections, it looks like St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman is looking ahead to his own re-election.

Coleman was elected 2nd Vice President of the National League of Cities at the organization's conference in Phoenix over the weekend. The criticial factor there, though, isn't the "2nd" part. It's that the position puts him in line to be president of the organziation in 2014.

Which, if you're keeping score at home, is after the next mayoral election in St. Paul, which is in 2013.

And although he hasn't formally announced his re-election plans, the mayor clearly expects to do well at the polls that year. (He won in 2009 with 68 percent of the vote.) National League of Cities spokesman Gregory Minchak says you have to be an elected city official to be president of the organization.

Photo: National League of Cities

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