Former Judge Tad Jude announces campaign for attorney general

The political veteran said he is "objectively the most qualified person to seek this office of any political party."

Tad Jude/Facebook

A former Washington County judge with more than two decades of experience in local politics announced his campaign for Minnesota attorney general Monday.

Tad Jude is seeking the GOP nomination to challenge Attorney General Keith Ellison in November. The political veteran said he is “objectively the most qualified person to seek this office of any political party.”

“Keith Ellison is a hyper-partisan politician who has used the office to push his radical agenda that includes defunding our police, attacking small business owners for trying to survive during the pandemic, and supporting radical leftists who believe in a revolving door for repeat criminals,” Jude said.

Jude served in the Minnesota House from 1973 to 1983 as the youngest person ever elected to the Legislature in state history. He was then elected to the Minnesota Senate, where he served until 1989 before doing a four-year stint on the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners.

He returned to the political world in 2011 as a judge in Minnesota’s Tenth Judicial District, a position he held until Dec. 31, 2021.

As attorney general, Jude said he would focus on public safety, improving oversight of nonprofits, and taking partisanship out of the attorney general’s office.

Jude joins Jim Schultz, Dennis Smith, Lynne Torgerson, and Doug Wardlow in seeking the GOP endorsement.

“I grew up as a Democrat but things have changed dramatically. Hubert Humphrey would not even recognize the DFL Party today,” Jude said. “Our state belongs to us — not to the demands of the political mob and radical left. Our state belongs to our families, our future and our children.”

 

Anthony Gockowski

Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.