Rep. Keith Ellison won the Democratic primary for Minnesota attorney general Tuesday night, despite allegations that he abused an ex-girlfriend surfacing just days before the election.
With 35 percent of precincts reporting, Ellison led by 53 percent of the vote, according to The Associated Press. His closest challenger was state Rep. Debra Hilstrom, with 17 percent of the vote.
Ellison, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, has indicated he wants to use the attorney general office as a platform to oppose Trump's policies.
"No one _ not even a president _ is above the law," he said in June, when he announced he was running for AG.
Ellison denied that he was abusive to ex-girlfriend Karen Monahan after her 25-year-old son, Aslim Monahan, wrote a critical post on Facebook Saturday.
Aslim Monahan wrote that he discovered a video on his mother's computer that showed Ellison "dragging my mama off the bed by her feet, screaming and calling her a "f---ing bitch" and telling her to get the f--- out of his house."
Ellison confirmed that he'd had a relationship with Karen Monahan in a statement Sunday but denied the allegations.
"Karen and I were in a long-term relationship which ended in 2016, and I still care deeply for her well-being," he said in the statement. "This video does not exist because I never behaved in this way, and any characterization otherwise is false."
Karen Monahan also weighed in on social media.
"That was my son who posted and its true," she tweeted. "He wouldn't lie about his own mom."
Ellison is a six-term congressman and serves as vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
