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The choice for whom Minnesotans should elect as our attorney general is clear. The Star Tribune Editorial Board waffled ("The case for Keith Ellison" and "The case for Jim Schultz," Oct. 29), but voters can make the right choice:

Re-elect Keith Ellison as AG.

Ellison has repeatedly proved he will stand up for Minnesotans' rights. His office led the historic Derek Chauvin trial and has won every court case that counties asked it to lead.

Ellison has defended Minnesotans' health care rights. He has taken on Big Pharma to fight for affordable insulin and other medicines. He defends Minnesotans' abortion rights. His opponent says he will defend Minnesotans' abortion rights; he once helped lead a group dedicated to banning abortions.

Ellison created the AG's first Wage Theft Unit to protect workers from workplace fraud and abuse. He has stood up for renters who faced illegal evictions.

Ellison has endorsements from a dozen current or former Minnesota county attorneys who understand how critical it is to have an experienced leader as AG. At a time when abortion and election rights are under attack, Minnesotans deserve an attorney general who has proven he will stand up for our rights and knows how to lead.

Ellison has experience — in courtrooms, the Legislature, Congress and the AG's office. His opponent, a hedge fund lawyer, has no experience in courtrooms and zero public service. The case for Keith Ellison is clear.

Kate Havelin, Minneapolis

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I take strong issue with Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman's letter ("We need Ellison's experience," Oct. 26) praising the experience and record of Ellison as attorney general while diminishing Schultz's excellent qualifications to be more effective in that office.

Schultz — not Ellison — is in the best position to lead the fight against major and violent crime in our state and will take the lead in seeking enactment of tough, anti-crime legislation. This Ellison has not done. As attorney general, Ellison has not proposed or supported legislation to increase penalties and speedy charging and prosecution for violent and gun-related crimes such as armed carjacking, a crime that has increased at epidemic levels in Minneapolis and throughout Hennepin County.

Ellison supported the irresponsible proposal to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a new department of public safety, a provision that was wisely and overwhelmingly rejected by Minneapolis voters. Indeed, Ellison's record — and his rhetoric — throughout his career as a legislator and attorney general has been decidedly anti-police with a broad, soft-on-crime approach to violence and lawlessness in our state.

Schultz is proposing a stronger, fully staffed criminal division in the attorney general's office. If Schultz is elected attorney general, he will provide vigorous, more effective leadership to the state agencies for preventing fraud, waste and abuse in state government. Ellison, as attorney general, did not respond effectively to the greatest scandal in Minnesota history. Feeding Our Future and other related nonprofit entities fraudulently stole at least $250 million from taxpayers. The Star Tribune's coverage of this issue clearly shows that Ellison, the Minnesota commissioner of education and even Gov. Tim Walz himself were all unfortunately intimidated by the threat of lawsuits from the applicant thieves and kept sending taxpayer dollars to the fraudsters ("Blame game on speed of probe into food fraud," Oct. 29).

Schultz, at age 36, will not be the youngest AG, because in 1960, a young 32-year-old Walter Mondale became attorney general and gained fame when he investigated and found massive fraud by officials in the then-Sister Elizabeth Kenny Foundation, a nonprofit involved in new treatment for polio victims. Despite Freeman's narrow definition of the powers of the office and lamenting Schultz's experience, Mondale plowed new ground, and Schultz can do the same because of his superior nonideological understanding and grasp of the office and its potential for good in our state.

Steve Wenzel, Little Falls, Minn.

The writer is an instructor of political science at Central Lakes College and represented Morrison and Crow Wing Counties in the Minnesota House from 1973-2001.

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One other way Schultz shows he does not understand the job of the attorney general: He doesn't know that violent crime prosecution is a specialty that takes years of training and experience to do well. He thinks he can just tell the civil lawyers in the office, "You are violent crime prosecutors now." Some of them have developed great expertise in tax law. Or labor law. Or natural resources law. But if you are a rape victim, for example, you don't want them prosecuting your case, because they don't know how.

If you ran a hospital that needed pediatricians, you wouldn't go get them from the heart surgeons' room. But that's what Schultz is planning for the AG's office.

John Stuart, Minneapolis

The writer is a retired lawyer and former chief state public defender.

As commissioners on the Hennepin County Board, we are deeply aware that public safety is impacted by the intersection of systemic inequities. We must not settle for the simplistic and false narrative that we can only have public safety or equity. Mary Moriarty is the justice partner we need to reform the criminal legal system and make our communities safer. That is why we have endorsed her to be our next county attorney.

Moriarty will bring a research and data-driven, trauma-informed approach to public safety. She will prioritize prosecuting violent crime and invest in intervention and prevention programs, which will lead to a reduction in crime and recidivism.

From her 30-plus years of experience, Moriarty has a unique understanding of the criminal legal system. More than 50 elected officials and community leaders have endorsed her because she is a bridge builder. As county attorney, she will bring people together to find solutions to improve the system, for victims of crime and offenders. This will ultimately improve public safety and rebuild public trust.

We cannot simply prosecute and incarcerate our way to community safety. Decades of data prove this doesn't work. Moriarty will bring a humane and, importantly, a data-driven approach, and will make the County Attorney's Office more transparent. We look forward to working with her to make our county safer.

This letter was written by Marion Greene, Hennepin County commissioner, District 3, and chair of the board; Irene Fernando, Hennepin County commissioner, District 2; and Angela Conley, Hennepin County commissioner, District 4.

Minnesota, we are better than this. U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer's post that portrays himself with a gun and a caption that says "Fire Nancy Pelosi" is so irresponsible and scary ("Pelosi attack reveals a larger problem," editorial, Nov. 1). We need to practice civility in our public discourse. I call for him to take this down. Anyone who supports this is just contributing to inflaming deranged individuals in our society. He is an embarrassment to Minnesotans and Republicans.

Bonnie Johnson, Nisswa, Minn.