Ellison elected attorney general despite abuse accusation

WASHINGTON – Democratic congressman Keith Ellison was elected Minnesota attorney general on Tuesday despite an ex-girlfriend’s accusation of domestic abuse.

Ellison defeated Republican Doug Wardlow for an office that threatened to swing to Republicans for the first time in nearly half a century.

Ellison rose to national prominence as the first Muslim elected to Congress and last year became deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He talked of using the attorney general’s office to resist President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Then his ex-girlfriend accused him of dragging her off a bed during an argument in 2016. Ellison repeatedly denied her allegations. But they helped make the race close, even though Wardlow was a virtual unknown.

Ellison’s ex-girlfriend accused him of dragging her off a bed during an argument in 2016. She claimed to have a video but never produced it, and an investigation commissioned by Minnesota Democrats ruled the accusation was “unsubstantiated.”

Wardlow and other Republicans called the investigation a whitewash, and they hammered Ellison with the allegations throughout the campaign.