Press Release

Ryan Wilson was president of a Federalist Society chapter, worked for a Koch-funded law firm, and was a lawyer for Trump’s campaign

ST PAUL, Minn – This weekend, Minnesota Republicans are preparing to endorse Ryan Wilson, a right-wing extremist who would inject partisan politics into the Office of State Auditor. 

Despite claiming to be non-partisan, Wilson’s career proves otherwise. Wilson was recently a Law and Liberty Fellow at the Institute for Justice, a libertarian, Koch-funded law firm. The Institute for Justice has worked to send public funds to private schools and successfully sued to eliminate part of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Act that attempted to limit big money in elections.

In his staff biography for the Institute for Justice, Wilson says he was “president of the local student chapter of the Federalist Society,” a conservative legal organization working to place far-right judicial activists into the court system. The Federalist Society helped Donald Trump select his Supreme Court nominees and has been working to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

At a recent campaign event, Wilson even admitted to working as an election lawyer for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. 

DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin released the following statement about Wilson’s candidacy: 

“If you’re wondering how Ryan Wilson can claim to be non-partisan despite serving as an election lawyer for Donald Trump, the answer is simple: Ryan Wilson is lying to you. Wilson is running for Auditor to push a far-right political agenda and his entire career proves it. 

“Wilson led a chapter of a group working to covertly place extremist, right-wing judges in courts across America and now he’s trying to inject that same brand of extreme, right-wing politics into the office of State Auditor. Luckily for Minnesotans, Auditor Julie Blaha is everything that Ryan Wilson isn’t: transparent, honest, and fair.”