Ever since Ron Schutz, a lawyer and the Republican candidate for Minnesota Attorney General, made a statement at a public event that the idea that the attorney general can help with affordability “is preposterous,” affordability has been a key point of contention in the race.
Schutz was originally criticizing his opponent and current Attorney General, Democrat Keith Ellison, for making affordability the center of his campaign, with its slogan of “Afford Your Life.” But as Ellison sees it, if affordability is not part of the attorney general’s job description, then what is?
“It’s preposterous” to think the attorney general absolutely can’t help affordability issues, Ellison told Courier Minnesota in a recent interview, borrowing a phrase from his opponent. In making his case, he cited Minnesota statute 8.31, which says “the attorney general shall investigate violations of the law of this state respecting unfair, discriminatory, and other unlawful practices in business, commerce, or trade.”
Ellison says this mandate includes pushing back against unfair renter prices and wage violations–two examples that ladder up to affordability. He also pointed to filing lawsuits on behalf of the state to get money back to Minnesotans when they’ve been the victims of consumer crimes like fraud, deception, or price-fixing.
“Affordability means being able to take care of you and your family. To have enough to eat. To not be paying more than around 25% of your income in rent or mortgage. It means that you can save for retirement so that if you’re blessed to get to be a senior, you’re not going to be in dire straits.”
-Keith Ellison, DFL candidate and incumbent Attorney General
Public transportation, schools, safety, and infrastructure are also matters that Ellison believes fall under a person’s “budgetary profile,” and are a matter of affordability. He says equalizing these opportunities so that they are affordable and accessible for all Minnesotans is a fundamental goal of his.
You can watch Ellison’s most recent comments on fighting for affordability from “On the Ballot: Courier Minnesota Live” here. Ellison also commented on his current litigation against Elon Musk, which you can read about here.
Ellison’s affordability lawsuits history
Ellison has ordered a litany of lawsuits since he first became attorney general, i.e. “the people’s lawyer,’ in 2019. In the last 21 months alone–since President Donald Trump took office again–he’s sued the federal administration once a week on average.
Ellison told Courier Minnesota that where the attorney general “really distinguishes themselves” is that 8.31 statute. “Are you gonna sue Glock or not? Are you gonna sue ExxonMobil for climate deception or not? Are you gonna sue TikTok? Are you gonna sue Meta?,” Ellison said. He’s sued all of these corporations and more due to the alleged harm or deception they’ve inflicted on Minnesotans.
He says that suing corporations is just the first step in seeking justice for the state’s residents, as you have to review offers, usually go to trial instead of accepting a first offer, and create a settlement. Ellison referenced his lawsuit against Juul, a vaping company, as an example where pushing for a trial worked to get a settlement instead. Just days before the trial, Juul agreed to pay Minnesota $60.5 million for deceptively marketing their e-cigarettes.
When it comes to Schutz’s earlier affordability statement, Ellison says that his Republican challenger doesn’t understand that getting money back into Minnesotans’ pockets is central to the job of attorney general. “My thing is to actually transform people’s lives, to help people afford their lives,” Ellison said. “His thing is, ‘Nah.’”
A difference in investments
Another key difference between the candidates is their investments. While Ellison says he doesn’t own any individual stock holding worth more than $10,000, Schutz owns more than $10,000 of stock in 174 different companies, about $1.74 million in total. And at least six companies he owns stock in are being sued by Minnesota—all lawsuits which are being done through Ellison’s office.
Ellison points out that this is a major conflict of interest if Schutz wants to be attorney general. He says he’s “sure that Schutz would go after some small-time scammer who’s completely and absolutely wrong and probably doesn’t have any legal representation. But what about his country club friends?” Ellison says he has no conflicts and can sue whoever he likes, whereas Schutz has to “consider his own stock portfolio before he makes a move against anyone.”
One more thing that Ellion believes sets him apart from Schutz is his ability to provide counterbalance to the federal government on behalf of the people of Minnesota. He says he has no problem investigating any company, regardless of their political ties or financial means. Ellison claims that Schutz doesn’t have that same integrity, due to his past affiliations.
Before running for attorney general, Schutz was not only a lawyer, but the chair for Minnesota’s Center for American Experiment, a conservative public policy thinktank that says it’s a nonpartisan nonprofit. Ellison called it “the functional equivalent of the Heritage Foundation,” a similarly structured organization based in Washington, DC. “So he is a movement ideological Republican, hardcore conservative, MAGA,” Ellison said.
Ellison believes that Schutz will cherrypick who he wants to prosecute if elected attorney general, and that lawsuits will be decided by his “hardcore conservative” beliefs. “Ron, I think like Donald Trump, has a certain vision for who he thinks deserves chances in life.”
Alternatively, Ellison says his campaign is about fighting for all Minnesotans, regardless of their background. “I’m liberty and justice for all,” he said. Ellison explained that he’s made it a mission to “reach out to as many Minnesotans as he can” this election season given Minnesota is such a “diverse state,” whether they’re white, black, straight, gay, young, or old.
“My slogan used to be ‘Everybody counts, everybody matters’ because we believed that there was an alternative philosophy that said ‘Only some people count and only some people matter,’” Ellison said. “That’s the difference between our two campaigns.”
