Amy Jean Klobuchar

• Born: May 25, 1960
• Place of Birth: Plymouth, Minnesota

In January 2007, Amy Jean Klobuchar became the first woman to represent Minnesota in the United States Senate. A member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL, an affiliate of the national Democratic Party), Klobuchar raised her profile considerably with an ultimately unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2020 election cycle.

Background & Education

Klobuchar was born on May 25, 1960, to Jim Klobuchar and Rose Katherine Hueberger. Her father worked as a sportswriter and columnist, and her mother worked as a second grade teacher. Klobuchar attended Wayzata High School, where she graduated as valedictorian in 1978. She earned a political science degree from Yale University in 1982. Klobuchar earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1985.

Political Career

In 1998, Klobuchar was elected Hennepin County attorney. Hennepin County is the largest county in Minnesota and includes the city of Minneapolis. Klobuchar was reelected without opposition in 2002. During her tenure as county prosecutor, she was named the Attorney of the Year by Minnesota Lawyer magazine.

In 2006, Klobuchar announced her candidacy for the US Senate seat being vacated by Mark Dayton. The election was a contest between Klobuchar and several other candidates: Republican Mark Kennedy, Independent Robert Fitzgerald, Constitution Party candidate Ben Powers, and Michael Cavlan of the Green Party. Despite the variety of political platforms presented in the campaign, Klobuchar won the election by a large majority, with all but eight of Minnesota's eighty-seven counties. It was the largest margin of victory in a Minnesota Senate election in nearly thirty years. The election victory made Klobuchar the first elected woman senator in Minnesota history.

Klobuchar took office in January 2007. She became a member of the Senate agriculture committee, the environment and public works committee, the commerce committee, and the congressional joint economic committee. She soon became known for her efforts to reach bipartisan agreements at a time when US politics were seen as growing increasingly divided along party lines. Klobuchar found particular success with farm bills, veterans affairs, and ethics reform. She was commended by many observers for political transparency.

Proving highly popular among Minnesotans, Klobuchar was reelected by significant margins in 2012 and 2018. The latter year, her national profile was considerably boosted by her performance in the Senate confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who was dogged by controversy over reports of misconduct in his high school and college years. Klobuchar asked Kavanaugh if he had ever drunk alcohol to the point of blacking out and then responded calmly when he lashed out angrily at her. The moment drew much media attention, and Kavanaugh later apologized for his reaction.

In 2019, Klobuchar announced she was running for the Democratic presidential nomination for the 2020 election. Though the campaign further elevated her in the national spotlight, her moderate platform did not win significant support within the party, and she dropped out of the race in March 2020. Although she was reportedly considered a potential running mate for eventual nominee Joe Biden, she withdrew from consideration that June, stating that the position should go to a woman of color. She was the first speaker at Biden's inauguration ceremony in 2021 and assumed office the same year in the Senate, becoming the chair of the Senate Rules Committee. During the 118th Congress, seated in 2023, Klobuchar served on several committees, including the Judiciary Committee and the Joint Economic Committee. She ran for a fourth term as senator in 2024 with the endorsement of the DFL (Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party). She emerged victorious and was reelected in November 2024.

On the Issues

Klobuchar developed a reputation as a moderate Democrat, willing to compromise and collaborate with Republicans and independents. On many social issues, she was relatively liberal. She campaigned as a staunch pro-choice politician and a supporter of embryonic stem cell research. She also supported civil unions and equal rights for gay partners before same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide. Although a vocal supporter of Minnesota's hunting community, she supported an extension of the ban on assault weapons and other gun control measures.

Klobuchar's positions on economic and foreign relations subjects tended toward the more conservative side of the Democratic Party. In the Senate, she voted in favor of the USA PATRIOT Act. She opposed US President George W. Bush's proposed troop increase in January 2007, and she visited Iraq with several Senate colleagues in March 2007. Upon her return, Klobuchar was critical of the progress being made by the Iraqi government and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki but praised the efforts of US troops. She was one of only a few Democratic legislators to support the Bush administration's proposed changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The changes to the law, which allowed for government monitoring of telephone and internet traffic without standard warrants, were criticized by some as eroding the civil liberties of American citizens.

During her 2020 presidential campaign, Klobuchar touted her government experience and her moderate views compared to both more progressive rivals in the Democratic primary and Republican incumbent Donald Trump. Her platform included a detailed proposal for fighting alcohol and drug addiction and improving mental health care. She supported improvements to the existing Affordable Care Act (ACA) healthcare legislation and criticized progressives' call for a single-payer or Medicare for all health insurance system. She also took moderate positions on issues such as student debt relief and immigration reform compared to some other candidates.

Personal Life

Klobuchar and her husband, John Bessler, were married in 1993. They had a daughter named Abigail Klobuchar Bessler. In early 2021, Bessler was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer, which she defeated, and she was declared cancer-free in August.

In 1986, Klobuchar authored a book on the political battle behind the construction of the Metrodome sports arena in Minneapolis. In 2015, she released the autobiography The Senator Next Door: A Memoir from the Heartland, and in 2021, she published Antitrust: Taking on Monopoly Power from the Gilded Age to the Digital Age, a comprehensive overview of antitrust law. The Association of American Publishers (AAP) awarded Klobuchar the Award for Distinguished Public Service for her works in 2021.

Bibliography

"Amy Klobuchar." Ballotpedia, 2020, ballotpedia.org/Amy‗Klobuchar. Accessed 16 Oct. 2024.

"Amy Klobuchar Fast Facts." CNN, 4 May 2023, www.cnn.com/2019/02/18/us/amy-klobuchar-fast-facts/index.html. Accessed 16 Oct. 2024.

"Amy Klobuchar US Senator." United States Senate, www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/. Accessed 16 Oct. 2024.

"Amy Klobuchar Wins Democratic Nomination for US Senate in 2024 Minnesota Primary." CBS News, 14 Aug. 2024, www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/amy-klobuchar-wins-democratic-nomination-minnesota-primary/. Accessed 16 Oct. 2024.

Panetta, Grace. "Amy Klobuchar Ran for President in 2020. Here's Everything We Know About the Candidate and Her Platform." Business Insider, 2 Mar. 2020, www.businessinsider.com/who-is-amy-klobuchar-bio-age-family-key-positions-2019-3. Accessed 16 Oct. 2024.

Stevens, Matt. "2020 Candidates: Amy Klobuchar." The New York Times, 19 Mar. 2020, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/elections/amy-klobuchar.html. Accessed 16 Oct. 2024.