Keith Ellison

Congressman Keith Ellison represented Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District from 2007 to 2019 (110th-115th Congresses). Before Congress, Ellison was a lawyer and served as executive director of the Legal Rights Center in Minneapolis. Ellison served on the Financial Services, Foreign Affairs, and Judiciary committees in Congress. He also served on the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which makes committee assignments, and was named a national chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. During his congressional tenure, banking and financial services industry reform was one of the many issues Ellison supported. Ellison’s Money Remittances Improvement Act became law in 2014. The bill streamlined the regulation of money transfers and brought federal regulatory practices in line with state banking agencies. The law eased money transfers between the United States and other countries, particularly for immigrants in America who sent money to support families overseas. During the 115th Congress, Ellison introduced legislation that would have provided expanded access to affordable credit to millions of low-income and minority households and would have amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act to allow people to report specific positive consumer credit data—including rent or utility payment history—to consumer reporting agencies. Ellison also frequently addressed bigotry and discrimination against American Muslims. Ellison is currently the Attorney General of Minnesota. When elected, he was the first African American elected to statewide office in Minnesota and the first Muslim elected to statewide office anywhere in the country. Ellison earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Wayne State University and earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Minnesota Law School.