First debate in Minnesota attorney general’s race kicked off at noon on Politics Friday
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Minnesota's attorney general race wound up as one of the closest statewide contests the past two times the office was on the ballot. It's shaping up that way again.
DFL Attorney General Keith Ellison faces Republican trial attorney Ron Schutz in November. The are appearing in their first head-to-head debate on Politics Friday at MPR News headquarters in St. Paul, moderated by politics editor Brian Bakst.
Ellison is seeking a third term as Minnesota’s attorney general. During President Donald Trump’s second term, he sued the Trump administration 75 times, according to a spokesperson. Through the attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, his office has secured more than 350 convictions since 2019.
On Tuesday, his office brought an additional $3 million of fraud charges against nine providers. The bulk of the attorney general office’s work deals with civil matters, like consumer protection, and is limited in its criminal authority.
Schutz, a trial lawyer and Army veteran, has worked behind the scenes of Minnesota’s Republican Party for decades. For nearly 40 years, he served as a partner at Robins Kaplan, a national litigation firm where he primarily worked in patent cases. Schutz argues Ellison hasn’t done enough to combat fraud during his tenure. Ellison says Republicans are using fraud as a political weapon.
A recent KSTP/Survey USA poll shows Schutz with a slight lead for the first time this election cycle. Ellison is polling higher with 18-34 year olds, women and moderates, but 21 percent of moderates say they’re still undecided. Millions of dollars have already been spent on the race by outside groups.
It’s common for the sitting president’s party to lose power in midterm elections, but Ellison has struggled to reach voters outside the urban core of the Twin Cities. As Gov. Tim Walz sailed to reelection in 2022, Ellison beat his Republican opponent by less than 1 percentage point.
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