In a competitive race for Minnesota’s attorney general, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party has launched an entire website devoted to smearing Republican candidate Doug Wardlow.
A new poll set to release Friday allegedly shows that Keith Ellison and Wardlow are in a dead heat for Minnesota’s top law enforcement position, according to WCCO’s Morning Take and Political Polls. Ellison’s campaign has faced numerous setbacks after it was revealed that the former congressman has been accused of domestic violence twice, and allegedly has a lapsed law license in the state of Minnesota.
With polls showing a tight race, the DFL is doing everything it can to secure a victory for its candidate, most recently by launching a website dedicated to exposing the “real Doug Wardlow.”
“Wardlow is too extreme for Minnesota. Minnesotans can’t afford someone who will politicize the Attorney General’s Office to serve President Trump,” the website states, portraying Wardlow as an extremist Republican with a history of “far-right legal activism.”
Sticking to a common talking point used on the campaign trail, the DFL attacks Wardlow for his time working with the Alliance Defending Freedom, which the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) deemed an “anti-LGBTQ hate group.”
“Doug proudly supports the organization’s work to recriminalize homosexuality, oppose hate crime laws, and sterilize transgender individuals,” the website suggests. Wardlow has repeatedly responded to the accusations by pointing to the SPLC’s declining credibility.
Calling Wardlow a “disaster on civil rights” and “bad for workers,” the DFL also goes after Wardlow for his efforts to block and repeal the Affordable Care Act during his time in the Minnesota House of Representatives.
“Wardlow also advanced legislation in the Minnesota House to allow corporate special interests to discriminate against Minnesota women and deny them health care coverage,” the website continues, referring to Wardlow’s pro-life views. “Minnesotans can’t afford an AG who will use the office to achieve Trump’s health care cuts.”
The website was prepared and paid for by the DFL, which faced criticism for endorsing Ellison even after the domestic-abuse allegations were brought to light.
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
