I am deeply concerned about the disinformation regarding the race for attorney general of Minnesota. The abuse allegations against DFL candidate Keith Ellison have not been substantiated, and the alleged tape has not been produced. It’s perhaps a little too convenient that the allegations are continually referenced but the evidence is nowhere.

Meanwhile, Republican candidate Doug Wardlow is playing up the allegations while casting himself as a neutral alternative. But Wardlow is anything but neutral. He was, until last year, a top staff attorney for the group Alliance Defending Freedom, an extreme right-wing organization that seeks to curtail LGBTQ rights. He was a key player in their efforts to keep the Supreme Court from ruling in favor of same-sex marriage. He also fought to keep transgender students from using the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity and defended a Michigan business that fired an employee just because they were transgender. He was recorded in a recent fundraising event saying that he will “fire 42 Democratic attorneys right off the bat and get Republican attorneys in there.” When he served in his one term in the state Legislature, he pushed anti-union legislation and tried to keep Minnesota from setting up a health insurance exchange under the Affordable Care Act. He was not re-elected.

By way of contrast, Ellison is running on a platform of affordable health care, protecting Medicaid, halting price-gouging on prescription drugs, addressing the opioid epidemic, supporting fair housing and fair student loans, stopping predatory lending, enacting drug policy reform, and defending the rights of women, LGBTQ Minnesotans, seniors and our immigrant neighbors.

There’s really no question about who should get our votes.

Roger Adkins

St. Peter