Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison reelected

MINNEAPOLIS (AP/KVRR) – Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has defeated Republican newcomer Jim Schultz to win a second term in a race that turned largely on crime and abortion.

Ellison led the prosecution team that got former police Officer Derek Chauvin convicted of murdering George Floyd.

Schultz is a 37-year-old hedge fund attorney who made crime his top issue. He accused Ellison of being at the forefront of the “defund the police” movement that arose Floyd’s death in Minneapolis convulsed the country in 2020. He also accused Ellison of doing too little to stop a massive fraud scheme in a program that helped feed children during the pandemic. Schultz told Twin Cities Public Television in an interview he wasn’t the type of attorney that argues in front of a judge in trials.

Ellison made his support for abortion rights the centerpiece of his campaign.