At TakeAction Minnesota, we can imagine a state where everyone is able to live free, joyful lives. As a people’s organization, we’re dedicated to building a democracy that represents and reflects who we are as Minnesotans.
Since June, TakeAction Minnesota endorsed U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison and embarked on a three month journey with member leaders, centered on gender justice that reaffirmed our wholehearted support for his campaign. (Read about it here.)
Now it’s almost Election Day.
With each passing week, the vicious political attacks against Rep. Ellison have mounted, driving fear based on his race and religious beliefs. Through this time, Rep. Ellison has continued to show up with tenacity, moral courage, and on the side of the people, just like he always has. Rep. Ellison has stood up for our rights, our freedom, and our future.
Now it’s time for us to stand with him.
What’s At Stake
The stakes couldn’t be higher for Minnesotans.
TakeAction Minnesota volunteers and members are talking to voters every day on the doors and phones. Minnesotans take their vote seriously, and the Attorney General’s race is no exception. The consequences are real: one of two candidates will be elected and empowered.
We know that Rep. Ellison stands up for fairness and justice in our communities. Doug Wardlow, the Republican candidate, is a lawyer for a right-wing hate group.
Wardlow used his time as a one-term state legislator to fight against unions, ban marriage equality, and restrict voting rights. As a lawyer, he fought against LGBTQ rights and transgender students. Recently, classmates accused him of bullying gay students in high school.
Wardlow’s hateful worldview has not changed since high school. Just weeks ago, he was caught on tape saying he’d fire every democratic lawyer in the Attorney General’s office to “change the political complexion.”
With a radical, supremacist agenda that doesn’t fit our Minnesota values, Doug Wardlow has nothing to offer except fear and division. We’re not buying it. In fact, we reject it. Doug Wardlow’s campaign is focused on attacking Rep. Ellison based on race and religion because he knows Rep. Ellison’s record of standing up for people is exactly what Minnesotans go for when we vote.
Even Noah Johnson, the third party candidate for the seat, endorsed Rep. Ellison.
As progressives, we know what happens when right-wing candidates are elected to powerful offices. We know what it means for the environment, immigrants, working people, health care, women, and LGBTQ community members.
That’s why there’s a huge influx of support for Rep. Ellison – from teachers, nurses, small family farmers, care workers, and people living in every county of our state.
This race is about all of us.
We all need an Attorney General who will be on our side when we face forces of greed and power that are bigger than ourselves. On Tuesday, there’s no candidate better than Rep. Ellison to be the people’s lawyer. Right wing groups know this. That’s why they’re doing everything they can to stop him.
But we decide who wins this election.
On November 6, we decide.
On Tuesday, I’m casting my ballot for Rep. Ellison because I share his vision of a progressive state: where our public life elevates our shared humanity, where government is a means to improve people’s lives, and where our democracy ensures that everyone counts and everyone matters.
As Minnesotans, we deserve an AG who will fight as relentlessly for our health care, women’s rights, workers’ rights, mass liberation, and more.
To voters on the fence: we hear you. We know you take your vote seriously. In 2018, we still have so much work to do to end harm, violence, and abuse in our communities. As survivors come forward we have a duty to believe them and act in a way that honors their tremendous courage.
Too often, when men in powerful positions are accused they expect impunity and ignore calls for investigations. Rep. Ellison was the exception, requesting a bi-partisan Congressional investigation.
Even as a handful of craven politicians seek to exploit Rep. Ellison’s race and religious beliefs as reasons to attack him, he’s insisted we listen fairly and find out the facts—not cover them up.
The stakes are too high to stand on the sidelines.
I urge you to vote with all of us who are deeply concerned about Doug Wardlow and have deeply discerned the allegation made against Rep. Ellison.
We know who both these men are and only one of them shares our values and has earned our vote – Rep. Ellison.
There’s no blue wave in our state if the Attorney General’s office is held by Doug Wardlow.
If we vote with our head and our heart, we can wake up on November 7th with the best possible outcome. In an election this close, it could come down to your vote.
Elianne Farhat
Executive Director
