This story was originally published by the Minnesota Reformer.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced Tuesday that he will seek a third term.
Ellison is leading Minnesota’s pushback against the Trump administration in the courts, having filed dozens of lawsuits against the federal government this year, on topics ranging from trans athlete bans to cuts to education funding and programs for crime victims.
Ellison has also been part of a coalition of Democratic attorneys general who are touting their court victories — largely in the form of temporary restraining orders blocking Trump administration actions while the legal process plays out — as a beacon of hope for liberal voters who want their elected officials to do more to push back on the Republicans who control the presidency and Congress.
The move keeps Ellison in lockstep with Gov. Tim Walz, who is also running for a third term. Both were elected to Congress in 2006 — where Ellison represented the mostly-Minneapolis 5th District — then statewide office in 2018.
A three-term AG isn’t new in Minnesota; Ellison’s predecessor, Lori Swanson, served three terms. Skip Humphrey was elected to four consecutive terms in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party has controlled the AG’s office for more than half a century.
The attorney general is the state’s chief legal officer, representing state agencies in litigation, while also protecting consumers from fraud and enforcing antitrust laws, among other duties. The attorney general also prosecutes some criminal cases. Walz directed Ellison to take up the highest-profile criminal case in state history, the prosecution of Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd.
Ellison’s two prior statewide races were relatively close.
Republican Ron Schutz, former chair and current board member of the right-wing Center of the American Experiment, has also launched a campaign for attorney general.
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