Despite Allegations Against Ellison, DFL Attempts To Show Unity
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- DFL leaders called a press conference Thursday to show harmony after a bruising primary election.
But if this is Democratic unity, one wonders what DFL dissension looks like.
At the news conference, DFL Party Chair Ken Martin was peppered with questions about embattled Attorney General candidate Keith Ellison.
"What I would say is that our party takes any allegation of domestic abuse seriously," he said. "It's a fluid situation. It's still developing."
Ellison is accused by a former partner of physical and emotional abuse.
On Wednesday, he repeatedly denied those allegations in an exclusive interview with WCCO-TV.
Ellison was the overwhelming winner of the DFL Primary for the attorney general's spot on the ticket.
At the top of the ticket was DFL governor candidate Tim Walz.
"We take these allegations seriously," Walz said Thursday, speaking about Ellison. "I believe there's a process in place to start seeing what's behind those allegations. I have not spoken to Congressman Ellison. What we are doing is focusing on our campaign."
Ellison won the primary, but he must still seek the endorsement of the DFL central committee this weekend.
And it's not a done deal.
"We believe that Keith Ellison should answer the questions that have been posed to him and that he should address those questions head on," Martin said.
The DFL unity press conference featured one of the losing governor candidates, Erin Murphy. Lori Swanson was not invited.