Record PAC money flowing to Minnesota attorney general race

Attack ads aimed at DFL Attorney General Keith Ellison and his Republican opponent Ron Schutz dominate Minnesota television airwaves.

“Ellison pardoned this monster,” proclaims one ad against Ellison from the First Principles political action committee.  “Ron Schutz…supports Trump’s cuts for Medicare,” says an ad from the Alliance for a Better Minnesota PAC. “We can’t let Ron Schutz win.”

Both those political action committees draw money from around the country as well as from Minnesotans.

With just over a month to go until Election Day, $6.8 million dollars has been spent against Ellison by outside groups, mostly for TV and digital ads. Another $4.2 million has been spent by groups supporting his candidacy.

“We’ve never seen a sitting attorney general in Minnesota receive so much negative advertising by outside groups,” says Carlet...