Ellison forced to fend off the charges of aggression in a tight debate with his GOP rival

Representative Keith Ellison, D-Minn., Left, and former representative of state representative Doug Wardlow, participate in a close race for the Minnesota Attorney General.
(AP)

Representative Keith Ellison, D-Minn., Faced Sunday night his GOP rival for the Attorney General, in a debate that largely focused on allegations of domestic violence against the representative, KSTP-TV reported.

Ellison, who represents the 5th Congressional District of Minnesota and is the vice president of the Democratic National Committee, vehemently denied the allegations made by his former girlfriend, Karen Monahan. She claimed that he had once dragged him out of bed by his feet while shouting obscenities. He claimed that investigations had done so and accused his Republican assailants of silencing allegations against President Trump.

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His Republican opponent, Doug Wardlow, called Ellison "a cheerleader for the cop killers". Ellison denied these claims, underlining his support for police reform groups such as Moms Demand Action, a grassroots movement that "seeks to fight the culture of gun violence in our country," according to its website.

Wardlow also criticized Ellison for his association with Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, which sparked controversy over repeated anti-Semitic comments. Ellison said that he had rejected Farrakhan's inflammatory comments, but had stated that he thought Farrakhan had some things to "offer" in the 1990s as a civil rights leader.

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"(Farrakhan) made it clear in the early '90s that his views and mine were absolutely inconsistent, and I've been saying that since," Ellison said.

Wardlow said the Washington Post had given Ellison the refusal to "deny association with Farrakhan".

Ellison will face Wardlow in mid-term elections in November.

Frank Miles of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.