Democratic firebrand Keith Ellison is running for a third term as Minnesota attorney general.
The Detroit native has been in some form of elected office in Minnesota for more than 20 years, including stints in the state legislature and U.S. House of Representatives.
Even after a margin of victory of less than one percent in his 2022 reelection campaign, Ellison made it clear in his launch video he released on Tuesday morning that he’s got more in store for Minnesotans as he seeks four more years serving as Minnesota’s top legal counsel.
“You elected me seven years ago,” Ellison said in his announcement. “We’ve won tough fights to help you afford your life in the greatest state in America — Minnesota.”
After rattling off a list of lawsuits his office has filed against the oil and pharmaceutical industries over his last two terms, Ellison transitioned to a political attack of President Donald Trump. Ellison didn’t mention the several government fraud scandals that have plagued Minnesota in recent years.
“We have a president who thinks he’s king, destroying our systems of government, violating our rights,” Ellison said. “We don’t bow to kings in America.”
That campaign rhetoric comes off a weekend where Ellison was a featured speaker at a “No Kings” protest in Minneapolis, which was sponsored in part by the Twin Cities chapter of the Communist Party USA, and just days after Ellison was caught on camera not clapping for veterans as they arrived on an Honor Flight to visit memorials in Washington, D.C.
Ellison said ‘opponents tried to teach me a lesson’ in 2022
Earlier this summer, Ellison was rumored to be considering a gubernatorial run, but Gov. Tim Walz decided to seek an unprecedented third consecutive term.
Just two years ago, Ellison expressed dismay that he won his 2022 race by less 1 percent over then-Republican challenger Jim Schultz, a newcomer to the political scene.
“I only won by 20,000 votes the last [election],” Ellison said during an event where he promoted his book about his prosecution of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. “One of the things you are going to read in this book is that, look, I didn’t have any scandals. I wasn’t in any trouble. In fact, I helped lead a successful prosecution that had international ramifications.”
Ellison went on to suggest that Republicans in Minnesota and beyond were attacking him politically during the 2022 campaign for leading the prosecution of Chauvin.
“They [were] running Willie Horton [-style] ads on me,” Ellison said. “They were running scurrilous, racist ads against me, and it was so bad … And I won by 100,000 votes the first time (in 2018), and only 20,000 votes the second time; and I got more votes (in 2022) than I got last time.”
“Which means a whole lot of people showed up to try to teach me a lesson.”
Republican challenger Ron Schutz has criticized Ellison’s tenure as the state’s top attorney, saying that “violent crime has surged, billions in taxpayer money have been lost, and once-vibrant cities are becoming ghost towns.”
Former U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald has also expressed interest in running for attorney general.
Hank Long
Hank Long is a journalism and communications professional whose writing career includes coverage of the Minnesota legislature, city and county governments and the commercial real estate industry. Hank received his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, where he studied journalism, and his law degree at the University of St. Thomas. The Minnesota native lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and four children. His dream is to be around when the Vikings win the Super Bowl.
