MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis criminal defense lawyer who described pandemic restrictions and state lawsuits against businesses that violated health guidelines as “intrusive state government” announced her bid on Sunday to unseat Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.

Attorney Lynne Torgerson announced on Sunday that she will run for attorney general in 2022, citing “destructive government lockdowns, lawsuits by (Ellison) and unfair practices that threaten Minnesotans’ freedoms and rights” during the pandemic.

“I am running for Minnesota attorney general to protect our freedom and get things done,” she said. “I have seen how harsh, cruel and destructive government lockdowns have been. They are probably the most destructive acts by government against its own citizens in the history of the United States.”

Torgerson joins GOP candidates Dennis Smith, a former state representative, and attorney Doug Wardlow — who lost to Ellison by just under 4 percentage points in 2018 — in the effort to unseat Ellison, a Democrat.

According to her campaign website, Torgerson received her law degree from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul before starting her downtown Minneapolis criminal defense law firm in 1995.

Ellison, who was elected attorney general in 2018 after representing Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District since 2007, saw his national profile rise after successfully prosecuting former police Officer Derek Chauvin for the murder for George Floyd.

Ellison’s spokesman didn’t immediately return a message.