The head of a Minnesota-based Messianic Jewish ministry is defending a Republican challenger labeled as “extreme” and “intolerant” by Democratic Congressman Keith Ellison.
Ellison’s Fifth Congressional District is among the most heavily Democratic in the country. First elected to Congress in 2006, the Muslim lawmaker garnered a whopping 68 percent of the vote in 2010. Lynne Torgerson ran against Ellison that year as an independent but only managed 4 percent of the vote, despite securing the backing of the Tea Party Nation.
Now, according to The Minnesota Independent, she is running as a Republican in 2012 against Ellison, whom she has described as a “radical Islamist” who “fails to oppose banning Islamic sharia law in the United States.” Ellison has responded by saying “Torgerson intends to run a campaign based on hate, division, and fear.” He labeled her as “extreme” and “intolerant.”
Jan Markell is founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries, a ministry based in Minnesota. She says many conservative Minnesotans are uncomfortable with Representative Ellison.
“And it stems from his association with Islamic groups that are questionable, including organizations like [the] Council on American-Islamic Relations,” she explains. “But Torgerson has been asking Keith Ellison to make a bold statement that the U.S. Constitution trumps Sharia Law.”
Markell says while many in Minnesota are unhappy with Ellison, a segment of the population there is proud to have a Muslim as their representative in Congress.
“I guess I wouldn’t say I’m not particularly proud of that, but I’m certainly not going to go to war over it either,” offers the ministry leader. “But Torgerson has every right to question Keith Ellison and not be charged with intolerance.”
(Source: OneNewsNow)