Democratic National Committee deputy chair Keith Ellison said Wednesday he is considering resigning from the DNC in order to concentrate fully on his run for Minnesota attorney general.
Ellison announced in June he would forgo running for a seventh term in Congress to seek the attorney general position. Last year, Ellison was pushed by the party's far-left flank for the DNC chairmanship but was defeated by Tom Perez, the preferred pick of former President Barack Obama.
"You know, I've been evaluating that recently, so we'll see," Ellison told WCCO radio of stepping down from the DNC. "I need to put 100 percent of my time, energy and resources into the race and my office, so it is something I am considering."
Ellison's campaign has been rocked by his ex-girlfriend Karen Monahan's accusation that Ellison physically and emotionally abused her in 2016, which the congressman has denied. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party in Minnesota conducted an internal investigation and found the claim to be unsubstantiated.
"Look, the DFL wasn't trying to look out for me, it was just looking out for itself to make sure that its brand was strong," Ellison said of the state party's report.
At a recent debate, Ellison continued to deny any abuse of Monahan, although he said he couldn't be sure if other allegations wouldn't emerge because of the "political environment."
"Look, in this political environment, I don’t know what somebody might cook up," Ellison said. "But I could tell you that there is absolutely nobody that I am aware of who has any sort of—who is threatening or suggesting or who has ever made a prior accusation about me."
Monahan has maintained there is a "video" of Ellison cursing at her and dragging her off the bed, but she has given differing reasons for why she won't show it to anyone, at one point saying it was too traumatizing.
She recently tweeted a medical record showing she told her doctor in 2017 about being abused in the past by Ellison. There is no direct evidence of any physical abuse, however.