The 2018 Minnesota Attorney General election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. A primary election was held on August 14, 2018, in which Doug Wardlow was nominated as the Republican candidate and

Keith Ellison Keith Maurice Ellison (born August 4, 1963) is an American politician and lawyer serving since 2019 as the 30th attorney general of Minnesota. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Ellison was the U.S. representative for fr ...

was nominated as the Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) candidate. Ellison won the election.

Background

DFL incumbent

Lori Swanson Lori Swanson (born December 16, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the Minnesota Attorney General, attorney general of Minnesota from 2007 to 2019. She was the first female attorney general elected in Minnesota. In 2018 Min ...

was first elected attorney general in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. Swanson succeeded two-term DFL incumbent Mike Hatch, who opted to run for governor in

. Swanson was re-elected in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. On January 28, 2018, Swanson announced that she would seek re-election. The announcement came after months of speculation that she would run for governor in 2018. On June 4, 2018, after failing to receive her own party's endorsement for attorney general, Swanson ended her campaign for attorney general and opted to run for governor instead.

Democratic–Farmer–Labor primary

Candidates

, Deputy Chair of the Democratic National Committee since 2017;

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

for

Minnesota's 5th congressional district Minnesota's 5th congressional district is a geographically small urban and suburban congressional district in Minnesota. It covers eastern Hennepin County, Minnesota, Hennepin County, including the entire city of Minneapolis, along with parts ...

since 2007 * Tom Foley, former Ramsey County attorney * Debra Hilstrom, member of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...

since 2001; former Anoka County assistant attorney ** Initially withdrew in January 2018 following Swanson's announcement that she would seek re-election. Re-entered the race following Swanson's withdrawal. * Matt Pelikan, attorney; activist; former clerk for

Minnesota Supreme Court The Minnesota Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The court hears cases in the Supreme Court chamber in the Minnesota State Capitol or in the nearby Minnesota Judicial Center. History The court was first assemb ...

Justices Paul Anderson and David Lillehaug * Mike Rothman, commissioner of the

Minnesota Department of Commerce Minnesota ( ) is a state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the south, and Nor ...

from 2011 to 2017 ** Initially withdrew on February 16, 2018, following Swanson's announcement that she would seek re-election. Re-entered the race following Swanson's withdrawal. It was reported in late January 2018 that Ellison was exploring the possibility of seeking election to be attorney general. According to several people he had spoken with recently, Ellison was not likely to run but found it enticing. Following Swanson's withdrawal from the election on June 4, 2018, it was reported that Ellison was likely to enter the race, which he did the next day. On June 2, 2018, the DFL endorsed Pelikan at their state convention. Swanson received 52 percent over Pelikan after the first round of balloting, but not the required 60 percent. Swanson then withdrew her nomination for the party's endorsement, but did not indicate if she would run in the primary election. On June 4, 2018, Swanson announced she would no longer seek re-election and would instead run for

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

. The day after her announcement, Ellison, Foley, Hatch, Hilstrom, and Rothman entered the race. Hatch said he did not think Pelikan had sufficient courtroom experience and would withdraw if someone he thought was qualified entered the race, which he did the next day.

Withdrawn

* Sam Clark, former

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

city attorney; former state director and counsel for U.S. Senator

Amy Klobuchar Amy Jean Klobuchar ( ; born May 25, 1960) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Minnesota, a seat she has held since 2007. A member o ...

** Withdrew on January 31, 2018, following Swanson's announcement that she would seek re-election. * Mike Hatch, attorney general from 1999 to 2007 ** Withdrew on June 6, 2018. * John Lesch, member of the

since 2003;

assistant city attorney ** Withdrew on September 15, 2017, saying he wanted to spend more time with his infant daughter, to help the DFL win control of the Minnesota of House of Representatives, and cited the uncertainty of whether DFL incumbent

would seek re-election. *

, incumbent since 2007 ** Withdrew on June 4, 2018, to seek

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

to be

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

. * Ryan Winkler, general counsel for Biothera; member of the

from 2007 to 2015 ** Withdrew in January 2018 following Swanson's announcement that she would seek re-election.

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

* Sharon Anderson,

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost ...

and nominee for attorney general in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

* Bob Lessard, DFL member of the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Minnesota Legislature, Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any State legislature (Unite ...

from 1977 to 2003 * Doug Wardlow, attorney for the

Alliance Defending Freedom The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), formerly the Alliance Defense Fund, is an American conservative Christian legal advocacy group that works to expand Christian religious practices within public schools and in government. ADF is most known ...

; member of the

from 2011 to 2013 Wardlow was endorsed by the Republicans on June 2, 2018, at their state convention.

Withdrawn

* Harry Niska, attorney; candidate for the Ramsey City Council in 2010 ** Withdrew on November 5, 2017, saying campaigning required too much personal life sacrifice.

Results

Minor parties and independents

Candidates

* Noah Johnson (

Grassroots–Legalize Cannabis Party The Grassroots–Legalize Cannabis Party (G–LC) is a political Third party (United States), third party in the U.S. state of Minnesota created by Oliver Steinberg in 2014 to oppose drug prohibition, cannabis prohibition. G–LC is a democratic s ...

), attorney On October 15, 2018, Grassroots–Legalize Cannabis Party candidate Noah Johnson announced his endorsement of DFL nominee Keith Ellison. In explaining his endorsement, Johnson cited Ellison's recent statement of support for marijuana legalization. Johnson also stated that he wished to avoid drawing votes away from Ellison and thereby increasing Republican nominee Doug Wardlow's chances of victory. Johnson's name remained on the ballot.

General election

On October 27, 2018, ''Politico'' reported that the State of Minnesota had not elected a Republican attorney general in more than 40 years, but added that Ellison was "putting that streak to the test." According to ''Politico'', Ellison had been "rocked by accusations of domestic abuse" and had fallen behind Wardlow in a recent poll; ''Politico'' added that the race "revolves around Ellison and what voters make of the misconduct allegations he's facing."

Endorsements

Debate

Polling

Results

By congressional district

Despite losing the state, Wardlow won five of eight congressional districts, including two that elected Democrats.

References

External links

Elections & Voting - Minnesota Secretary of State
Official campaign websites
Keith Ellison (DFL) for Attorney GeneralDoug Wardlow (R) for Attorney General
{{Minnesota elections

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Background

Democratic–Farmer–Labor primary

Candidates

Withdrawn

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Withdrawn

Results

Minor parties and independents

Candidates

General election

Endorsements

Debate

Polling

Results

By congressional district

See also

References

External links