Keith Ellison Claims Victory In MN Attorney General Race

ST. PAUL, MN — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has claimed victory in his race over Republican challenger Jim Schultz.

"Thank you Minnesota, for the great honor of serving you as your Attorney General and for reelecting me last night," Ellison said on social media.

"I promise to continue helping you afford your lives and live with dignity, safety, and respect—every day."

Unofficial vote totals show that with all ballots counted, Ellison is up by just under 21,000 votes, 1,253,721 to Schultz's 1,232,855 votes.

Ellison won 50.37 percent of the vote to Schultz's 49.53 percent, the Minnesota Secretary of State website shows.

The race has not yet been called by the Associated Press, and Schultz has not conceeded.

However, any recount effort would have to be funded by the Schultz campaign. Under Minnesota law, a publicly-funded recount can only occur in a statewide election if the margin of victory is less than .25 percent.

If the margin of victory is larger than .25 percent, a candidate has the choice to fund a "discretionary recount." The candidate must submit the funds to cover the cost of the recount within seven days of the canvassing of a general election.

Here are the unofficial vote tallies — with all precincts reporting — for the Minnesota attorney general race:

Republican Jim Schultz

• 1,232,837
• 49.53%

Democratic-Farmer-Labor Keith Ellison

• 1,253,690
• 50.37%

Write-In

• 2,379
• 0.10%

A wave came, and it was blue

A predicted Republican "red wave" never materialized Tuesday night in Minnesota or across the nation.

"We didn't have a red wave. It was a blue wave," Republican candidate for governor Scott Jensen admitted in his concession speech. "We need to recalibrate. We need to ask ourselves, 'Okay. What can we learn from this? What can we do better? How do we go forward?'"

Read more: 'Blue Wave': Minnesota Democrats Claim 'Trifecta' In State Government