UPDATED: Keith Ellison Wins Re-Election Bid

Ellison will be returning to Washington for another term.

Last Update: 7:30 a.m. Nov. 7, 2012 With 98 percent of the precincts reporting, Rep. Keith Ellison received 74.27 percent of the vote, re-electing him to a third term in the U.S. House of Representatives. ***Original Text*** After what turned out to be a contentious and heated race, incumbent Rep. Keith Ellison defeated Republican challenger Chris Fields Tuesday night. This will be Ellison's fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives. NBC, ABC and CBS called the race around 10 p.m. with roughly 29 percent of precincts reporting. Ellison was sitting at nearly 65 percent of the vote. Ellison's victory comes just a few weeks after engaging in a heated debate with Fields at KFAI Radio, where he called Fields a "low-life scumbag" and a …

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Chris Fields Answers Patch Readers' Questions (Part 2)

The Republican is challenging incumbent Rep. Keith Ellison in Minnesota's 5th Congressional District.

Editor's Note: 5th District Patches recently asked readers to pose questions to incumbent Rep. Keith Ellison and challenger Chris Fields. This week, we are running the candidates' answers to some of the best questions we received. Today, we're featuring Part Two of our interview with Fields (you can read Part One here). Our interview with Ellison will run on Wednesday and Thursday. *** Dave W asks: How would you have voted on Audit the Fed (HR 459), and why? Fields: I would have voted to audit the Fed. I 100 percent support Dr. Paul in that effort. Auditing the Fed is one of the central points of our campaign. What I don’t like is a shadow government, and these bankers act like a shadow government. What they do is secret. In an age where …

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Chris Fields Answers Patch Readers' Questions (Part 1)

The Republican is challenging incumbent Rep. Keith Ellison in Minnesota's 5th Congressional District.

Editor's Note: 5th District Patches recently asked readers to pose questions to incumbent Rep. Keith Ellison and challenger Chris Fields. This week, we are running the candidates' answers to some of the best questions we received. Today, we're featuring Part One of our interview with Fields. Part Two will run tomorrow. Our interview with Ellison will run on Wednesday and Thursday *** Lauren asks: Do you plan to vote yes or no on the voter ID amendment? Why or why not? Fields: I plan to vote yes. It’s just common sense. There’s nothing I’ve read that suggests that people can’t vote. If you don’t have the proper photo ID that day, it’s a provisional ballot. In some of these races that are lopsided, that provisional ballot will never come …

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Chris Fields, GOP Candidate for Minnesota's Fifth Congressional District

Chris Fields served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 21 years.

Name : Chris Fields Also known as : Chris Age : 44 Place of residence : Minneapolis, MN Attended college : Yes College : Park University Degree : Business Mgmt/Finance Has served in the military: Yes Rank : Major Date when discharged from duty : 31 July 2012 Job titles held : General Mgr Employers : NA Party affiliation : Republican Running for a: Federal office Running for position: Congress, U.S. House of Representatives Chamber/district: 5th Congressional District Incumbent: No Previous elective offices : None Unsuccessful bids for elective offices : None Address 525 Park Street STE 250 St Paul MN 55103 Name : Erica Shumack Title : Campaign Mgr Website : www.chrisfieldsforcongress.com Facebook : www.facebookc.com/ChrisFieldsForCongress …

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Pose Your Question to Ellison and Fields

Patch wants to get you involved in the District 5 race.

So often, election seasons feature candidates repeating the same talking points over and over, and media members asking the same questions over and over. Patch wants to switch things up a bit with this year's 5th Congressional District race. We're asking you, the Patch user, to pose a question to incumbent Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison and/or Republican challenger Chris Fields. To pose a question, simply post it as a comment below. Make sure to make it clear who the question is for (just Keith, just Chris or both candidates). Patch editors will then use select questions during upcoming interviews with both candidates.

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Ellison: Get Money Out of Politics

The Minnesota representative said lessons can be learned from the Wisconsin recall election.

Editor's Note: The following was written by Rep. Keith Ellison and first appeared on the Huffington Post, which is a partner of Patch.com. Last Tuesday, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker kept his job, but with a high price tag. In a state of only six million people, $60 million was poured into the race, $50 million of which went to Governor Walker. And almost half of that was spent by outside groups -- most of them not based in the state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin was not an isolated event. Since 2010, Super PACs and corporations have spent record amounts of money in elections nationwide. Corporate spending soared during the 2010 election cycle to over $290 million, four times more than the previous mid-term elections in 2006. Most of this spending…

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The Fifth District Report

Ellison Has Strong Words for Syria's Assad

The congressman said the regime "has no future."

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) on Tuesday chaired a congressional hearing on human rights violations in Syria, and he used the opportunity to condemn Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and call for a globally supported "humanitarian zone." However, Ellison says he does not support any military attacks at this time, instead suggesting more of a peacekeeping role for troops. (See video above) "If military personnel are needed to set up a humanitarian corridor, that is something I would support," the congressman said. In February, Ellison sponsored a resolution calling for Assad to step down and urging the U.S. government to support groups in Syria that show commitments to human rights and religious freedom. On Friday, Chris Fields, a Republican …

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Fields Officially Puts Name in 5th District Hat

Republican Chris Fields is looking to unseat incumbent Keith Ellison.

Though his name was out there a few months ago, Republican Chris Fields made it official on Tuesday—he's running against incumbent Keith Ellison in Minnesota's 5th Congressional District in 2012. Fields joins Lynne Torgerson as a Republican challenger to Ellison, a Democrat. It will be an uphill battle for both challengers in the generally liberal district—Ellison won with 68 percent of the vote in 2010, and with 71 percent of the vote in 2008. Fields, who is a former Marine from New York City, said in a statement that he doesn't think Ellison has been an effective leader during his three terms in Congress. Fields added that his inner-city upbrining, as well as his time in the Marines, taught him about perseverance and leadership. "These …

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