Video: Torgerson To Challenge Ellison Again for Congress
Sharp words exchanged 17 months before election—and on MSNBC.
Lynne Torgerson, who challenged U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison in 2010 as an independent, has said she'll run against him again—this time as a Republican, according to Roll Call.
Torgerson announced her candidacy on the Tea Party Nation website, where she called Ellison a "radical Islamist" who "fails to oppose banning Islamic Sharia law in the United States," reported the Minnesota Independent.
Ellison responded by accusing Torgerson of planning "a campaign based on hate, division, and fear," according to MnIndy.
Bedrock or Supreme?
On Tuesday, Torgerson appeared on MSNBC's The Ed Show, with substitute host Al Sharpton interviewing her. (Watch video clip above.)
Much of the interview centered on a video of Torgerson asking Ellison about the supremacy of the U.S. Constitution or Sharia law in the United States. (See YouTube clip here.) Torgerson told Sharpton that Ellison saying the Constitution is "bedrock" was not the same as saying it is "supreme."
Ellison (DFL-5th District) became the first Muslim to be elected to Congress in 2006.
Torgerson is a criminal defense attorney in private practice in Minneapolis, whose cases sometimes make headlines, as was the case this week in Duluth and in 2009 when she scored a rare federal-court reversal of a Minnesota Supreme Court decision.
In 2010, Torgerson garnered 3.74 percent of the votes in the general election. Ellison had nearly 68 percent. Republican Joe Demos got 24.14 percent.
Pickwick
1:23 pm on Wednesday, June 29, 2011
There's a reason Torgerson only got 3 percent in the last election: She's a hateful bigot and we in the 5th don't want her anywhere near government. She can't even manage a functioning website let alone a seat in Congress. And, oh yeah, I've got a question for her. Lynne, are you willing to swear that the Constitution of the United States rules supreme over the sacred texts of all religions and that you will not seek to impose Biblical law on the citizens of the United States? And no, I will not accept the fallacious evasion that this country was founded on Christianity.
Amy Paddock
3:44 pm on Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Okay, I have been watching Keith Ellison. He is a very reasonable person, and he is actually being falsely accused by Torgerson twisting the truth. I am tired of hyper political droning, no matter what side of politics it's on.
Ronald Axelsson
11:57 pm on Thursday, June 30, 2011
Togerson is right on the money and should be supported! Ellison is an appeaser!
John Anderson
7:24 pm on Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Ellison may possibly be the worse member of Congress. That being said I will do whatever I can to insure that Lynne Torgerson does not recieve the endorsement. She is a religious Democrat posing in the GOP. I asked her point blank if she would adhere to the US Constitution and she kept avoiding the question. When pressed she said I was too black and white and everything must be weighed. Ms. Torgerson, when all you can do is press a YES or a NO button, everything is black and white. If you're looking for a candidate who is just pro religion (and a warped sense of religion at that) who is a complete fiscal liberal then she is your woman.
Bryan Davidson
9:44 am on Thursday, January 12, 2012
The only thing Lynne "Cruella de Vil" Torgerson is good at is splitting the conservative vote and embarrassing Republicans in Minnesota.