Minnesota attorney general ads are often misleading, and most come from outside groups, analysis finds
With the midterm elections a little more than a week away, attack ads in Minnesota's attorney general race are often taken out of context, misleading and, in some cases, partly or entirely untrue.
Most come from outside groups that neither candidate controls. The two ads examined here come from groups that Attorney General Keith Ellison and Republican Ron Schutz legally can't coordinate with: Minnesotans for Justice, which is attacking Ellison, and A Better Minnesota, which is attacking Schutz.
Ellison, a DFLer, is a two-term incumbent. Schutz is an attorney who spent 39 years at the national law firm Robins Kaplan, according to earlier WCCO reporting.
One ad attacking Ellison, from Minnesotans for Justice, says a man was "convicted, set to be deported," then Ellison "stepped in" and "pardoned this monster, erasing justice for that little girl."
The pardon was granted by the state Board of Pardons, which has three members: Ellison, Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson. All three voted to pardon Tou Lue Vang, who was convicted of child rape more than 20 years ago.
The victim, now an adult, wrote to the board asking that Vang be pardoned. The state Clemency Review Commission also recommended the pardon. Vang has since been deported, WCCO reported in July.
DFL strategist Jeff Hayden said the ad "leaves out the context" of the case. Ads in general, he said, often can be misleading.
Another ad, from A Better Minnesota, says Schutz "led a group recently connected to white supremacists." There is no evidence tying Schutz to white supremacists or hate groups.
Schutz is the former chair of the Center for the American Experiment, a Minnesota-based conservative think tank. WCCO looked at the organizations that track hate groups, and none considers the think tank one.
Republican analyst Amy Frederiksen said the attack on Schutz shows the DFL is "very worried" about a seat the party has held for 60 years, and that Ellison is worried about re-election.
Ellison has a history of winning close races. In 2022, he won reelection by about 20,000 votes.
