The Minnesota Democratic Farm Labor (DFL) Party overwhelming voted to endorse embattled Democrat Keith Ellison for state attorney general on Saturday, despite recent abuse allegations.
The party voted in favor of endorsing Ellison by a vote of 326 to 70.
“I want to tell you, face to face, that I never abused Karen,” Ellison said to the delegation, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. “Despite everything, I still care about her as a person and I don’t want anybody to say anything insulting to her at all.”
The delegation opted to vote via paper ballot instead of voice vote to allow individuals to feel more comfortable.
“Our party is going to do everything it can to help Keith and the other candidates on the ballot,” DFL Party Chair Ken Martin said after the vote was announced.
Roann Cramer, a Minneapolis delegate and Ellison supporter, said, “As far as I can tell one allegation about one event that took a couple of minutes years ago. … I’ve got 12 years of experience with this guy, I’ve never seen anything like that from him.”
Ellison’s ex-girlfriend, Karen Monahan, has accused him of physically and verbally abusing her during their relationship. (RELATED: Liberal Women’s Group Demands Ellison Resign From Congress, Drop Out Of AG Race)
“I was using my mom’s computer trying to download something and I clicked on a file, I found over 100 text and twitters messages and video almost 2 min long that showed Keith Ellison dragging my mama off the bed by her feet, screaming and calling her a ‘fucking bitch’ and telling her to get the fuck out of his house,” Monahan’s son wrote on Facebook last weekend.
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