Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Keith Ellison, Candidate for U.S. Congress
Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District

Bruce Braley, Candidate for U.S. Congress
Iowa’s 1st Congressional District

Music by Barenaked Ladies, Dios Malos, and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.

Keith Ellison
Candidate for U.S. Congress
Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District
Website

Keith Ellison currently serves as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. He represents House District 58B, which encompasses northern Minneapolis, the new North Loop area, and a portion of the Downtown area.

Ellision practiced law with the firm of Linquist & Vennum during the early part of his career. He then went on to become the executive director of the Legal Rights Center, Inc. At the Legal Rights Center, Keith maintained a full-time case load, while managing the acquisition and remodeling of the Center’s building, and instituting a number of new and vital programs. After leaving the Legal Rights Center, Keith entered private practice with the law firm Hassan & Reed Ltd, where he specialized in trial practice.

When elected to the U.S. House of Representatives this fall, Keith will be the first Muslim-American to ever serve in that body. He will also be the first non-white person to ever be elected to federal office from Minnesota.

Keith, his wife Kim, and their four children have lived on the north side of Minneapolis for the past 15 years.

Bruce Braley
Candidate for U.S. Congress
Iowa’s 1st Congressional District
Website

Bruce Braley was born in the small town of Brooklyn, Iowa. When Bruce was young his father was severely injured at the grain elevator where he worked, forcing Bruce to get part-time jobs to help support the family including delivering newspapers, mowing lawns, bailing hay, detassling corn, doing janitorial work, working at a grain elevator, and when he was old enough, driving dump trucks.

Bruce attended Iowa State University for undergrad and the University of Iowa for law school. After law school Bruce and his wife moved to Waterloo, IA where they’ve lived for over 20 years.

Bruce has served as President of the Iowa Trial Lawyers Association and has been active in many community organizations throughout Waterloo and the State of Iowa.

MUSIC:

Barenaked Ladies
“Sell, Sell, Sell”
from The 2000 Bill Of Rights Awards Dinner

Dios Malos
“Everyday”
from Starting Five