Klobuchar will run for Minnesota governor after Walz ends bid.
Democratic senator is a Trump critic
[January 30, 2026]
By BILL BARROW and STEVE KARNOWSKI
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Thursday she is running
for governor of Minnesota, promising to take on President Donald Trump
while unifying a state that has endured a series of challenges even
before the federal government's immigration crackdown.
Klobuchar's decision gives Democrats a high-profile candidate and proven
statewide winner as their party tries to hold onto the office occupied
by Gov. Tim Walz. The 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, Walz
abandoned his campaign for a third term this month amid criticism over
mismanagement of taxpayer funding for child care programs.
“Minnesota, we've been through a lot,” Klobuchar said in a video
announcement. “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.”
Klobuchar cited Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota, federal
officers killing two Minnesotans, the assassination of a state
legislative leader and a school shooting that killed multiple children —
all within the past year. She avoided direct mention of ongoing fraud
investigations into the child care programs that Trump has made a
political cudgel.
“I believe we must stand up for what’s right and fix what’s wrong,”
Klobuchar said.
Klobuchar becomes the fourth sitting senator to announce plans to run
for governor in 2026. The other races are in Alabama, Colorado and
Tennessee.
Multiple Minnesota Republicans are campaigning in what could become a
marquee contest among 36 governorships on the ballot in November. Among
them are MyPillow founder and chief executive Mike Lindell, a 2020
election denier who is close to Trump; state House Speaker Lisa Demuth;
Dr. Scott Jensen, a former state senator who was the party’s 2022
gubernatorial candidate; and state Rep. Kristin Robbins.
Running for governor is a relatively low-risk move for Klobuchar. If she
loses, she’ll keep her Senate seat and won’t be up for reelection until
2030. If she wins, either she or Walz will appoint someone to fill the
vacancy, depending on the timing of her resignation from the Senate.
Resigning a little early would give her successor a slight seniority
advantage.
A special election would later be held to choose a successor to finish
the rest of Klobuchar's term.
Immigration and fraud will be at issue
The Minnesota contest is likely to test Trump and his fellow
Republicans’ uncompromising law-and-order approach and mass deportation
program against Democrats’ criticisms of his administration’s tactics.
Federal agents have detained children and adults who are U.S. citizens,
entered homes without warrants and engaged protesters in violent
exchanges. Renee Good was shot three times and killed by an Immigration
and Customs Enforcement officer in early January. On Saturday, federal
officers fatally shot ICU nurse Alex Pretti during an encounter.
Many Democrats on Capitol Hill, in turn, have voted against spending
bills that fund Trump’s Department of Homeland Security. A standoff over
the funding could lead to a partial government shutdown.
Trump and other Republicans also will try to saddle Klobuchar — or any
other Democrat — with questions about the federal investigation into
Minnesota’s child care programs and its Somali community. Trump also has
made repeated assertions of widespread fraud in state government, and
his administration is conducting multiple investigations of state
officials, including Walz. The Democrat has maintained that his
administration has investigated, reduced and prosecuted fraud.
Demuth was quick to release a new video and a web page that illustrate
what’s likely to be another main line of her campaign: that Klobuchar
cannot be trusted to end the fraud in public programs or curb the growth
of government.
[to top of second column]
|
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn, speaks during a field hearing on
immigration Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie
Parr)
“Minnesotans only need to look at her record to know that she simply
cannot deliver the change that our state needs, and would be nothing
more than a third term of Tim Walz,” Demuth said in a statement.
Klobuchar has won across Minnesota
Now in her fourth Senate term, Klobuchar is a former local
prosecutor and onetime presidential candidate who positions herself
as a moderate and has demonstrated the ability to win across
Minnesota.
She won her 2024 reelection bid by nearly 16 percentage points and
received 135,000 more votes than Democratic presidential nominee
Kamala Harris. Harris outpaced Trump by fewer than 5 percentage
points.
Klobuchar gained attention during Trump’s first term for her
questioning of his judicial nominees, including now-Supreme Court
Justice Brett Kavanaugh. At Kavanaugh’s acrimonious confirmation
hearings, she asked the future justice, who had been accused of
sexual assault as a teenager, if he ever had so much to drink that
he didn’t remember what happened. Kavanaugh retorted, “Have you?”
The senator, who had talked publicly of her father’s alcoholism,
continued her questioning. Kavanaugh, who was confirmed by a single
vote, later apologized to Klobuchar.
After Trump’s first presidency, Klobuchar was among the most
outspoken lawmakers during bipartisan congressional inquiries of the
insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters attacked the
U.S. Capitol during certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in
the 2020 election. As Senate Rules Committee chair, she pressed
Capitol Police, administration officials and others for details of
what authorities knew beforehand and how rioters breached the
Capitol.
“It’s our duty to have immediate responses to what happened,” she
said after helping write a report focused not on Trump’s role but on
better security protocols for the seat of Congress.
2020 presidential bid
Klobuchar sought the presidential nomination in 2020, running as a
moderate in the same political lane as Biden. She launched her
campaign standing outside in a Minnesota snowstorm to promote her
“grit” and Midwestern sensibilities that have anchored her political
identity.
As a candidate, Klobuchar faced stories of disgruntled Senate
staffers who described her as a difficult boss but also
distinguished herself on crowded debate stages as a determined
pragmatist. She outlasted several better-funded candidates and ran
ahead of Biden in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.
But Biden, then a former vice president, trounced her and others in
the South Carolina primaries, prompting her to drop out and join
others in closing ranks behind him.
After Biden’s victory, Klobuchar would have been well-positioned for
a Cabinet post, perhaps even attorney general. But the Senate’s
50-50 split made it untenable for Biden to create any opening for
Republicans to regain control of the chamber.
Klobuchar announced in 2021 that she had been treated for breast
cancer and in 2024 announced that she was cancer-free but undergoing
another round of radiation.
___
Barrow reported from Atlanta. Associated Press reporter Maya
Sweedler in Washington contributed.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
