Ellison, with narrow lead, claims win in Minnesota AG race
With this win at the Minnesota AG race, the national campaign will be in the limelight.
Ellison (D) — with narrow lead over her rival, incumbent Tom Anselm (R) — claims victory in the Minnesota Attorney General race.
Ellison trailed Anselm by just seven votes, which is still too close to call. However, with 53 percent of precincts reporting, Ellison held a narrow lead of 47 percent to 50 percent.
Anselm had a very narrow lead of 48 percent to 46 percent in the race for state Attorney General.
With just over five minutes to go in the race, both candidates were in a runoff position, which is a requirement of Minnesota law. The winning candidate must have more than half of the vote. The candidate with less than half of the vote will face a second round in the Dec. 7th election.
Anselm had 48 percent of votes with the polls still open. With the polling closing at 3:22 p.m., it is likely Anselm will secure 50 percent. In the case Ellison wins, she will have to do something to ensure she gets the top statewide office.
“This is the only statewide election left in our country between people of different parties. These are tough elections and we have a tough choice to make. I am committed to working across party lines to take all necessary steps to make Minnesota even more of a great state,” said Ellison.
“I’m honored to serve as Minnesota’s Attorney General. When elected, and with the leadership and guidance of Governor Mark Dayton, I will make Minnesota even greater than ever before. To do that, we need to make sure that all Minnesotans have faith in the state government and can count on the elected Attorney General to work to make Minnesota better,” said Olson.
Ellison is known to be more pro-business during her time as a state senator, and that may have been one of the reasons why she was able to win the race. She now has the potential of being a better governor, but that could still be a very strong issue when the next governor takes office.
Olson is a big fundraiser who took in $750,000 in the past year. She has had a number of controversies over the past few years, with charges she improperly used her