Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Thursday she’s jumping into the race to become Minnesota’s next governor, vowing to “get things done,” bring bipartisanship to St. Paul and root out the fraud that has roiled the state.
Her announcement comes just weeks after Gov. Tim Walz dropped his reelection bid following backlash over a massive fraud scandal.
It also arrives at a moment when Minnesota has become the epicenter of the national debate over President Trump’s immigration crackdown.
“I believe we must stand up for what is right and fix what’s wrong,” Ms. Klobuchar said in her 4‑minute launch video. “That is why today I am announcing my candidacy for governor of the state of Minnesota.”
Ms. Klobuchar said the state has gone through a lot — from the shooting deaths of Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, to the 3,000 ICE agents who have flooded the streets, and the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
The 65-year-old former county attorney for Hennepin County enters the race as a clear favorite.
She has been a senator for nearly two decades, building a reputation as a moderate Democrat with a Midwestern demeanor, although she votes the party line.
Ms. Klobuchar leaned into that middle-ground image in her announcement, calling for unity in a turbulent moment and praising Minnesotans for inspiring her with their “Minnesota values of hard work, freedom and simple decency and goodwill.”
She added, “These times call for leaders who can stand up and not be rubber stamps of this administration, but who are also willing to find common ground and fix things in our state. These times call for grit and resilience.”
Her entry into the race is welcome news for Democrats.
Ms. Klobuchar has a proven statewide operation that could help drive out voters in a race where Democrats are already defending a U.S. Senate seat, that of Tina Smith, who’s not running for reelection this year.
Every seat in the closely divided state Legislature is also up for grabs.
Mr. Walz, the party’s 2024 vice presidential nominee, stepped aside after pressure built on him amid a widening fraud scandal in which prosecutors allege $9 billion may have been stolen from Medicaid programs.
Ms. Klobuchar alluded to the scandal in her announcement.
“I don’t like fraud or waste in government,” she said. “I will make sure the people who steal taxpayer money go to jail, and root out the fraud by changing the way state government works.”
