Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN-03) is vowing to take on big pharma in his bid for Minnesota attorney general, but has received at least $100,000 in campaign donations from the pharmaceutical industry in his career.
According to publicly available campaign-finance data, Ellison has taken $102,875 from the “pharmaceuticals and health products” industry throughout his political career. During his 2016 reelection campaign alone, Ellison received $25,505 from pharmaceutical companies and their employees.
Ellison’s top source of campaign funds consistently comes from the “health professionals” industry, which has donated $981,457 to the Minnesota Democrat since he first took office in 2006. In total, Ellison has received 1,286,586 from the “health” sector combined, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
The “finance, insurance, and real estate” sector has provided $914,139 to Ellison during his career, making it the third highest source of income for his campaigns.
“As attorney general, [he] will defend the Affordable Care Act and hold pharmaceutical and health insurance companies accountable to make health care more affordable for Minnesota families,” he states on his campaign website, where he criticizes “big pharmaceutical companies” for their “unfair price hikes.”
“They also are abusing patent law to keep cheaper medicine off the market. As attorney general, I will hold these companies accountable, cracking down on dirty tricks that raise prices and make health care less affordable for families,” he writes.
Republican attorney general candidate Doug Wardlow’s campaign manager, Billy Grant has repeatedly called out Ellison and allied groups for being “total hypocrites” on the issue.
“Ellison campaign has taken hundreds of thousands from big pharma. Take Action MN and the rest of the Minnesota DFL are complete and total hypocrites,” Grant claimed in a recent tweet in response to Take Action Minnesota, a progressive organization that endorsed Ellison for his promise to “fight big pharma when they put profits over people’s lives.”
https://twitter.com/RealBillyGrant/status/1052963919470448640
Grant later criticized Land Stewardship Action, which also endorsed Ellison “because he will tackle the greed of pharmaceutical companies who drive up prices and contribute to the health care crisis.”
“LSAFnow is another DFL aligned group that is incredibly hypocritical. Say one thing do another,” Grant responded.
https://twitter.com/RealBillyGrant/status/1053082859391606787
According to the latest polls, Ellison leads Wardlow 41 percent to 36 percent among likely Minnesota voters.
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
