I’ll be honest. Indivisible is Imperfect. Owing to some bad press for Congressman Keith Ellison (which in my view largely evaporated) a lot of members of the Indivisible Community forgot the number one rule of elections: Fight in the primary, fall in line for the general. They turned in ballots without a vote for Ellison.
After realizing 1) the alternative to Keith Ellison will cause people to die, and set us back to the middle ages, and b) it turns out that Congressman Ellison will make an excellent Attorney General despite efforts to Al Franken him, sudden rush to un-judgement flooded the community and compelled the construction of the following letter.
It is signed by Indivisible leaders, because we are all in touch with each other, more or less. It would certainly be endorsed by many local indivisible groups, but there is simply no time to turn such a project around so fast, and, frankly, a lot of groups simply don’t endorse. I am absolutely certain that given another 48 hours, the number of signatories on this letter cold be increased from just over 50 to something closer to 1000. For now, you’ll just have to trust that leaders of various groups signed knowing that a good number of members of the various groups we work with also support Ellison.
So, here it is, ignore the typos. We did this fast.
November 1, 2018
Dear Minnesota Voters,
As leaders of local, grassroots, progressive organizations, we care deeply about gender equality, reproductive rights, civil liberties, racial equity, and freedoms and protections for the LGBTQIA communities. We are all strong and vocal advocates of the #MeToo movement and believe that all women must be heard. And we all agree that voting for Keith Ellison is vital to protecting many of the issues that we hold dear.
Please do not leave this race blank on your ballot.
The Attorney General may be the most important office that you will be voting for this election.The Attorney General is the state’s attorney, tasked with protecting the civil rights of all Minnesotans. Here are some things that State Attorneys General have done in the past two years:
Filed suits opposing the initial Muslim Ban.
Filed suits about families being separated at the border.
Fought for environmental protections.
Fought against possible financial corruption in the current administration.
In some states, they’ve supported lawsuits that would allow for pre-existing conditions to NO LONGER BE COVERED as they say that when the individual mandate was removed, the rest of the law should be invalidated.
There couldn’t be anyone better suited to serve as the attorney for the people of Minnesota than Keith Ellison, whose congressional campaign slogan has been “Everybody Counts, Everybody Matters.” Keith will make sure we have patient protections for preexisting conditions. He will work to lower drug prices for Minnesotans. He will protect the LGBTQIA communities, uphold a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body, protect everyone’s right to vote, and fight corporate corruption – all of which underscores the high quality of life we enjoy in this state.
Keith’s opponent, Doug Wardlow, will not just neglect Minnesotans’ civil rights, he will actively work to undermine them. The issues that matter so much to us have been the number one target of Doug Wardlow his entire career – and now he is on the precipice of succeeding. He has tried to weaponize the constitution against same sex marriage, against transgender kids’ safety, against voter rights, and against a woman’s right to chose. His first priority once elected? Politicizing the AG’s office by firing attorneys whom he suspects are democrats and filling the attorney general staff with extremists from the Alliance to Defend Freedom. He describes himself as “100% pro-life” and has spread false claims of fetal body part sales at the U of MN Medical Center. (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6raHdz8unOg&feature=youtu.be&t=30m23s)
His extreme views are no secret. After failing to be re-elected to the MN House in 2014, Wardlow took a position as a legal activist at the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a group that has been working to recriminalize homosexuality, opposes hate crime laws, and has proposed the sterilization of transgender individuals. The ADF is considered by the Southern Poverty Law Center to be a hate group.
https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/alliance-defending-freedom
Doug Wardlow’s views are alarming and far from any mainstream position.
We’ve thought a lot about the allegations made against Keith Ellison and have read many summations. Our overall take, as non-experts, is that there was a full investigation and her claims are unsubstantiated. She has hired the former boss of Keith’s opponent, Doug Wardlow, as her attorney and has recently been prominently featured on many right wing conspiracy minded shows and has herself retweeted right-wing propaganda, such as the #walkaway hashtag known to be started by Russian bots. Furthermore, Keith’s now-public divorce proceedings revealed no history of abuse in his marriage of 25 years and Keith has the full support of his ex-wife.
Our groups comprise thousands of Minnesotans, all of whom are working very hard in the struggle for a more just, equitable and caring society. We will continue to work hard in that space and hold whoever wins the AG race accountable to our values. But right now, the choice is clear to us. If we want to protect the values of equality and justice for ALL people under the law, than we must elect Keith Ellison as the MN Attorney General. This is why each of us are voting for Keith Ellison and we urge you to do the same.
Sincerely,
Jena Martin & Laurie Wolfe
Co-Chairs, IndivisibleMN03
Scott Ickes
Chair, Minnesota Indivisible Alliance and Co-Chair Indivisible Minnesota Local
Taylor Winkel
Co-Chair, Indivisible Minnesota Local
Alicia Donahue, Su Reaney
Women’s March Minnesota Executive Board
Jordan Orzoff, Laura Eash, Curtis Johnson, Timmie Harriday
Stand Up Minnesota Steering Committee
Lyn Dockter-Pinnick
Chair, Menahga/Park Rapids Indivisible
Sara Chapman, Mark Frascone, Connie Sierras
Co-Chairs, Indivisible Resistance of Eagan Burnsville (IREB)
Kayli Schaaf
Executive Director, Indivisible North Metro
Aimee Engebretson
Co-Chair, Indivisible St. Paul
Pamela Dowell
Co-Chair, Itasca County Indivisible of Minnesota
Judy Dunbar
Chair, MN Indivisible Chaska
Caren Fine Gallagher
Administrator, CD2 Action
Board Member, Minnesota Indivisible Alliance
Kris Miner, Kati Simons
Co-Chairs, Indivisible Eden Prairie
Greg Laden, Clara McIver, Barbara Boldenow
Co-Chairs, Indivisible Plymouth
Chris Evans
Co-Chair, Indivisible NW Metro
Jennifer O’Brien, Lynn Speckhals Duane, Joseph Rapacki Jr.
Co-Chairs, Edina Indivisible
Lynn Rankinen
CD2 Action-Faith In MN Liaison
Barbara Prindle
Founder, Progressive We Stand – Golden Valley
Krista Peterson, Deirdre Mulcahy, Ryan Hankins
Co-Chairs, The Power of Many – MN
Ambre Quinn
Administrator, Postcards for America – MN
Katie McMahon
Chair, Swing Blue MN
Jaime McGeathy
Executive Director, Watch Your Reps MN
Tom Edwards
Board Member, St. Paul Regional Labor Federation Political Action Committee
Sonja Hendrickson
Team Lead, Action Together Twin Cities
Yurie Hong
Lead Coordinator, Indivisible St. Peter/Greater Mankato
Mary Messall,
Administrator, Indivisibile Allies of Minnesota
Carol Hanson
Founder, Indivisible/Undaunted
Cindy Mundahl, Rachel Mundahl
Co-Chairs, Indivisible Minnetonka
Suzanne Laing, Becky Lauderdale Nelson, Carol Zazubek
Co-Chairs, Indivisible Bloomington
Vicky Johnson, Elise Radtke-Rosen, Heather Tidd
Co-Chairs, Stand Up Dakota Country
Pernell Meier,
Indivisible Rochester
Susan Moses-Zirkes
Chair, Indivisible MN02 and Co-founder, CD2 Action