Keith Maurice Ellison (born August 4, 1963) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 30th attorney general of Minnesota since 2019. From 2007 to 2019, Ellison was the U.S. representative for , representing the Minneapolis region. He also served as Deputy Chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2017 to 2018 and was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2003 to 2007. He is a member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL).

A progressive, Ellison served as co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a chief deputy whip during his congressional tenure. Ellison was the first Muslim elected to Congress and the first African American representative from Minnesota. He garnered national attention in his campaign in the 2017 Democratic National Committee chairmanship election, gaining support from progressive groups and U.S. senators Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer. His candidacy prompted renewed scrutiny of his past statements and affiliation with the Nation of Islam, which drew criticism from some moderate Democrats. Ellison lost to Tom Perez, who subsequently appointed Ellison deputy chair.

Ellison was elected attorney general of Minnesota in 2018. He is the first African American elected to partisan statewide office in Minnesota and the first Muslim in the U.S. to win statewide office. He was reelected in 2022 with 50.4% of the vote.

Early life, education, and career

Keith Ellison, the third of five sons, was raised Catholic in Detroit, Michigan, by his parents, Leonard Ellison, a psychiatrist and Clida (Martinez) Ellison, a social worker. Ellison and three of his brothers became lawyers; his other brother became a doctor. One of Ellison's brothers is also the pastor of "Church of the New Covenant Baptist" in Detroit. Ellison's youth was influenced by the involvement of his family in the civil rights movement, including his grandfather's work as a member of the NAACP in Louisiana.

Ellison graduated in 1981 from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy, where he was active in sports and a senator in the student government. At age 19, while attending Wayne State University, Ellison converted from Catholicism to Islam, later explaining: "I can't claim that I was the most observant Catholic at the time. I had begun to really look around and ask myself about the social circumstances of the country, issues of justice, issues of change. When I looked at my spiritual life, and I looked at what might inform social change, justice in society ... I found Islam." After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in economics in 1986,Wayne State University Commencement Programs, Box 4, Folder 43, Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University. Ellison married his high-school sweetheart and moved to Minneapolis to attend the University of Minnesota Law School. He graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1990.

After graduating from law school, Ellison worked for three years at the firm of Lindquist & Vennum, where he was a litigator specializing in civil rights, employment, and criminal defense law. He then became executive director of Minneapolis's nonprofit Legal Rights Center, which specializes in defending indigent clients. Upon leaving the Legal Rights Center, Ellison entered private practice with the law firm Hassan & Reed Ltd, specializing in trial practice. He was also regularly involved in community service. He served as the unpaid host of a public affairs talk program at KMOJ radio, and also often volunteered as a track coach for several organizations, working with youth between the ages of five and 18. He said, "It's a great community-building device because it's for all ages and all genders. Everyone can find a way to fit in."

Minnesota House of Representatives

In November 2002, Ellison was elected to his first public office, as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives serving House district 58B. At the time he took his seat, his party was the smallest House minority in Minnesota history. During this session Ellison was appointed to the Governmental Operations & Veterans Affairs Policy Committee, the Judiciary Policy & Finance Committee and the Local Government & Metropolitan Affairs Committee. He also spearheaded an ethics complaint against Rep. Arlon Lindner for a speech Lindner made that Ellison alleged amounted to a denial that homosexuals were persecuted during the Holocaust.

Ellison was reelected to his seat in 2004 with 84% of the vote. During the 84th session, he served on the Civil Law & Elections Committee and the Public Safety Policy & Finance Committee. Upon his election to Congress, Ellison's seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives was filled by Augustine Dominguez, a Latino community activist and fellow member of the DFL.

U.S. House of Representatives Elections

Ellison's House seat was previously held by Martin Olav Sabo, whose announcement of his intention to retire precipitated Ellison's candidacy. At the DFL Convention on May 6, 2006, Ellison won the party endorsement over nine other candidates, leading 2-to-1 on the first ballot, and winning endorsement on the fourth ballot. In the primary, Ellison faced former state senator Ember Reichgott Junge, Minneapolis city council member Paul Ostrow, and Sabo's chief of staff Mike Erlandson, whom Sabo had endorsed. Ellison won the primary on September 12, 2006, with 41% of the vote. One issue Ellison's campaign opponents raised was the repeated suspension of his driver's license for failure to pay tickets and fines. Ellison had also failed to pay all or part of his income taxes in five separate years between 1992 and 2000, forcing the state and Internal Revenue Service to put liens on his home. He later paid in excess of $18,000. In the November 2006 election, Ellison faced Republican Alan Fine, the Green Party's Jay Pond, and Tammy Lee of the Independence Party. Ellison won the seat with 56% of the vote.

Campaign finance disclosures

In early 2006, the Minnesota State Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board reprimanded Ellison for events alleged in 2002–04, namely unreported campaign contributions discrepancies in cash balances, and misclassified disbursements, during his campaigns for the Minnesota House of Representatives.

In 2005, the board opened an investigation, and Ellison was subpoenaed and fined. Ellison was repeatedly fined for late filings, was sued twice by the Attorney General of Minnesota, and was warned about absent or incomplete disclosures.

Tenure

Ellison was elected to the House of Representatives on November 7, 2006, and sworn in on January 4, 2007. He received national attention for his decision to use an English translation of the Qur'an, translated by British scholar George Sale in 1734, that once belonged to President Thomas Jefferson for his reenacted swearing-in ceremony, which generated both praise and criticism from political pundits.

At the time of his swearing in, Ellison said he intended to focus on wages, housing, "relief and justice for the middle class", and ending the U.S. involvement in the Iraq War. Ellison was also a vocal critic of the George W. Bush administration, and sought a position on the House Judiciary Committee for oversight. In his first week as a member of Congress Ellison voted with the new Democratic majority as part of the 100-Hour Plan to raise the minimum wage, for federal funding of stem cell research, and to allow Medicare to negotiate pharmaceutical prices.

On April 3, 2014, Ellison introduced the Money Remittances Improvement Act of 2014 (H.R. 4386; 113th Congress) into the United States House. The bill would make it easier for nonbank financial institutions such as money service businesses to provide remittance payments internationally. Ellison said that "passage of the Money Remittances Improvement Act is cause for celebration for all diaspora communities, including the Somali and Hmong communities I am proud to represent in Minnesota."

Credit reform

On May 3, 2007, Ellison introduced a bill to outlaw universal default, the practice whereby credit card companies raise interest rates on customers who are behind on payments to other creditors. The bill was supported by House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank. Ellison, who described the bill as "the beginning of a whole credit reform effort we're going to be pursuing," also announced his interest in limiting high interest rates on credit cards and easing the process for those who have a legitimate need to file bankruptcy. This provision ultimately became law in 2009 as part of the "Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights" portion of the Credit CARD Act of 2009.

Committee assignments

Committee on Financial Services (since January 12, 2007) Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Terms on Committee (and "Thomas" links at the Library of Congress): 113th Congress ( – Dem's), 112th ( – Dem's), 111th () and 110th (). Committee on Foreign Affairs 111th Congress, 2009–2010 () Judiciary Committee 110th Congress, 2007–2008 ()

Caucus memberships

Congressional Progressive Caucus (Vice-chair) Congressional Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Caucus (Vice-chair) Congressional Black Caucus Congressional Arts Caucus Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus

Candidacy for Chair of Democratic National Committee

In 2017, after acting chair Donna Brazile resigned, Ellison ran for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee, along with Howard Dean, Martin O'Malley, Raymond Buckley, and Jaime R. Harrison, chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party. Ellison, who at the time served as chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, emerged as a top contender and was viewed as a progressive alternative to the more moderate wings of the party. The race was viewed by some commentators and analysts as a proxy battle between the Clinton and Sanders factions of the party.

Support

In autumn 2016, Ellison was endorsed by both Senator Bernie Sanders and incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. In November 2016, outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid endorsed Ellison for DNC chair. In early December Ellison's endorsements included the AFL–CIO and several elected officials in Congress, including senators Elizabeth Warren and Martin Heinrich, and Representatives John Lewis, Luis Gutiérrez and Tulsi Gabbard, among others.

Opposition