Ellison survives abuse claims to become Minnesota AG

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison survived an ex-girlfriend’s abuse claim to become Minnesota’s next attorney general.

The allegation put the office in play for the GOP for the first time in half a century. But Ellison defeated Republican Doug Wardlow, a virtual unknown who would have been a heavy underdog but for the abuse claim. Wardlow was a lawyer for a conservative Christian legal advocacy group.

Ellison says the race was “the challenge of a lifetime.” He says he has nothing to add to his previous denials of the abuse allegations.

He rose to national prominence as the first Muslim elected to Congress and last year became deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee.