Ellison, Hilstrom File to Run for Attorney General
Tuesday was the final chance for candidates to file for political office in Minnesota. State Rep. Debra Hilstrom, DFL-Brooklyn Center and Third District Congressman Keith Ellison both jumped into the race for Minnesota attorney general.
If elected, Ellison promises to fight for all Minnesotans no matter what their race, religion or economic background is.
“We say the Pledge of Allegiance and when we say it we put our hand on our heart and say, ‘liberty and justice for all,'” Ellison said. “There are no exceptions. Nobody is cut out of that.”
Hilstrom says she will try to combat the opioid crisis.
“I’ve been carrying legislation surrounding that issue,” said Hilstrom. “I will be a champion and a leader.”
She added, “We have consistently seen that attorney generals are the front line of what’s been happening in Washington, D.C. and I plan to be a strong voice for Minnesotans.”
Dayton Supports Ellison for Attorney General
Governor Mark Dayton has already weighed in on the attorney general’s race. He’s putting his support behind Ellison.
“He will be the People’s lawyer, in the truest sense,” Dayton told the media.
Last 72 Hours “Chaotic”
A scrum of media showed up at the Secretary of State’s Office in St. Paul to watch Ellison and Hilstrom put pen to paper and declare that they want to be Minnesota’s next Attorney General.
“They have very, very different constituencies here,” said Hamline University political expert David Schultz.
The Ellison-Hilstrom declarations capped off a frantic few days that Schultz called, “the most chaotic in Minnesota political history since Paul Wellstone’s plane crash in 2002.”
“In the last 72 hours or so the Democratic Party is going through an enormous amount of upheavals at this point,” Schultz added.
Ellison’s decision to give up his Third District Congressional seat after six terms has major repercussions on the northwest suburbs. As of Tuesday evening, three Republicans and six Democrats applied to run for Ellison’s seat. The Democrats include former state House Speaker Margaret Anderson Keliher and state Rep. Ilhan Omar, the nation’s first Somali-American elected to public office.
