Keith Maurice Ellison is an American Democrat politician, who represented the Minnesota's 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, becoming the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress and the highest Muslim elected official in the United States at the time of his election.
Born August 4th, 1963 in Detroit, Michigan, Ellison moved to Minneapolis in 1987, becoming a lawyer and community activist. He was elected as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, serving House District 58B from 2003-2007. After his terms as a U.S. Congressman from 2007 to 2019, Ellison was chosen by Minnesota Governor Walz to become the state’s Attorney General.
More recent Ellison audio highlights of can be found at the MPR News homepage https://www.mprnews.org/
December 10, 2009 - Democrats in the U-S Senate appear to be moving toward a health reform bill that would not include a government-run "public option" insurance program. Under the tentative compromise, the federal government would instead negotiate with private insurers to provide non-profit health insurance plans. The compromise would also allow people aged 55 to 64 to "buy into" Medicare. But even if the Senate approves the deal, it would still need to be reconciled with the House-passed version of the bill, which includes a public option. Minnesota DFL Congressman Keith Ellison is an outspoken supporter of the public option, and he joins MPR’s Cathy Wurzer to discuss the subject.
February 1, 2010 - Minneapolis Congressman Keith Ellison says he's concerned that the multi-million-dollar advertising campaign the U.S. Census Bureau launched last month left out several local radio stations that serve the Spanish-, Somali- and Hmong-speaking populations. He says those stations can help get the census message out. But Steve Jost of the Census Bureau says those communities will get the census message through national advertising that will air on those stations. Jost also says Census officials are not done buying ads.
March 25, 2011 - MPR News presents the series "Following the Firearms: Gun Violence in Minneapolis," which looks at where guns are coming from, and the impact of gun violence in Minnesota's largest city. In this report, MPR’s Brandt Williams travels to the Washington DC-area and examine how gun trace data have become the center of a national political fight over guns.
January 7, 2019 - MPR Special Coverage presents live broadcast of Governor Tim Walz inauguration, along with other constitutional officers, in an event held at the Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul.