Keith Ellison

Keith Maurice Ellison (born August 4, 1963) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 30th attorney general of Minnesota.

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 the age of 19, while attending Wayne State University in Detroit, Ellison converted from Catholicism to Islam, later giving the following explanation: "I can't claim that I was the most observant Catholic at the time [of my conversion]. 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."

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.

Ellison's House seat was previously held by Martin Olav Sabo, whose announcement of his intention to retire precipitated Ellison's candidacy.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in economics in 1986, Ellison married his high school sweetheart and moved to Minneapolis to attend the University of Minnesota Law School.

Ellison 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.

Ellison then became executive director of the nonprofit Legal Rights Center in Minneapolis, which specializes in the defense of indigent clients.

Upon leaving the Legal Rights Center, Ellison entered private practice with the law firm Hassan & Reed Ltd, specializing in trial practice.

Ellison has also been regularly involved in community service.

He served as the unpaid host of a public affairs talk program at KMOJ radio, and has 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."

In 2002, he was elected to the Minnesota House and served two terms.

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.

After longtime U.S. Representative Martin Olav Sabo announced his retirement, Ellison announced his candidacy for Congress in the 2006 election.

He won the race and was reelected five times.

His district included Minneapolis, the state's largest city, and its inner-ring suburbs.

In Congress, Ellison was a vice-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a chief deputy whip.

He also sat on the House Committee on Financial Services.

Ellison was the first Muslim elected to Congress and the first African American representative from Minnesota.

A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Ellison was the U.S. representative for MN's 5th congressional district from 2007 to 2019.

Ellison's profile was raised when he ran for chair of the Democratic National Committee in November 2016, 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 former Secretary of Labor Tom Perez, who subsequently appointed Ellison deputy chair, a decision approved by unanimous voice vote of DNC members.

He also served as the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2017 to 2018 and a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2003 to 2007.

In Congress, Ellison built a reputation as a progressive leader.

Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Ellison moved to Minnesota for law school.

In the summer of 2018, Ellison announced that he would not seek reelection to Congress, and would run for Minnesota attorney general.

He won the Democratic primary and defeated nominee Republican Doug Wardlow in the general election, becoming the first African American elected to partisan statewide office in Minnesota, as well as the first Muslim in the U.S. to win statewide office.

He was narrowly reelected in 2022 with 50.4% of the vote.

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.