Klobuchar announces run for governor of Minnesota after Walz drops his bid

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Thursday she will run for governor of Minnesota, promising to take on President Donald Trump while unifying a state that has struggled with a series of challenges even before the federal government’s anti-immigration crackdown.

Klobuchar’s decision gives Democrats a high-profile candidate and a proven statewide winner as their party tries to hold on to the position held by Gov. Tim Walz. Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, abandoned his bid for a third term earlier this month amid criticism over mismanagement of taxpayer funding for child care programs.

He watches: Border Czar Homan says federal troops will withdraw from Minnesota only after ‘cooperation’

“Minnesota, we’ve been through a lot,” Klobuchar said in a video announcement Thursday. “These times call for leaders who can stand up and not be rubber stamps for this administration — but who are also willing to find common ground and fix things in our state.”

Klobuchar cited Trump’s crackdown on immigration in Minnesota, the killing of two Minnesotans who protested by federal officers, the assassination of a state legislative leader, and a school shooting that killed several children — all within the past year. She avoided direct reference to ongoing fraud investigations into child welfare programs that Trump has made a political cudgel.

“I believe we have to stand up for what is right and fix what is wrong,” Klobuchar said.

Klobuchar, who becomes the fourth senator to seek to lead his home state as governor in 2026, has been among Trump’s loudest critics, most recently over immigration enforcement efforts that have sparked massive protests.

Read more: Trump says he spoke with Minnesota Gov. Walz after the shooting of Alex Peretti over the weekend

Several Republicans are already campaigning in what could become a marquee contest among the 36 governors on the ballot in November. Among the contenders for the GOP nomination are MyPillow founder and CEO Mike Lindell, a 2020 election denier and close to Trump; Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth; Dr. Scott Jensen, a former state senator who was the party’s 2022 gubernatorial nominee; and State Rep. Christine Robins.

Immigration and fraud will be a bone of contention

The election in Minnesota is likely to test Trump and his fellow Republicans’ hard-line approach to law and order and the mass deportation program in the face of Democratic criticism of his administration’s tactics.

Federal agents detained children and adults who were US citizens, entered homes without warrants and engaged protesters in violent clashes. Renee Good, a US citizen from Minnesota, was shot three times and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in early January. On Saturday, federal officers shot and killed ICU nurse Alex Pretty during a standoff.

Many Democrats on Capitol Hill, in turn, voted against spending bills that fund Trump’s Department of Homeland Security. The standoff over funding could lead to a partial government shutdown.

Trump and other Republicans will also try to field Klobuchar — or any other Democrat — with questions about the ongoing federal investigation into Minnesota’s child welfare programs and the Somali community. Trump has also made repeated assertions that fraud is widespread in state government, and his administration is conducting multiple investigations into state officials, including Walz. The Democrat confirmed that his administration investigated, reduced and prosecuted fraud operations.

Klobuchar won across Minnesota

Serving her fourth term in Washington, Klobuchar, a former local prosecutor and one-time presidential candidate, styles herself as a moderate and has shown she can win across Minnesota.

The senator won her 2024 re-election bid by nearly 16 percentage points and received 135,000 more votes than Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, who chose Walz as her running mate. Harris beat Trump by less than 5 percentage points.

Klobuchar gained attention during Trump’s first term for her questioning of his judicial nominees including current Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. At Kavanaugh’s acrimonious confirmation hearings, she asked the future justice, who was accused of sexual assault as a teenager, if he had drunk so much that he didn’t remember what happened. Kavanaugh responded: “Did you?”

The senator, who has spoken publicly about 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 investigations into the insurrection on January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters attacked the Capitol during the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over him in the 2020 presidential election. As chair of the Senate Rules Committee, she pressed Capitol Police, administration officials and others for details of what authorities knew beforehand and how rioters stormed the Capitol.

“It is our duty to have immediate responses to what happened,” she said after helping write a report that focused not on Trump’s role but on better security protocols for Congress.

Running for president 2020

Klobuchar sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, running as a moderate on the same political path as Biden. She launched her campaign while standing outside in a snowstorm in Minnesota to promote the Midwestern sensibility and sensibility that anchored her political identity.

As a candidate, Klobuchar faced stories of disgruntled Senate staffers who described her as a tough boss, but she also distinguished herself on crowded debate stages as a resolute pragmatist. She outperformed several better-financed candidates and led Biden in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. But Biden, then a former vice president, defeated her and others in the South Carolina primary, prompting her to withdraw and join others in the close ranks behind him.

After Biden’s victory, Klobuchar was well positioned to take a Cabinet position, perhaps even attorney general. But the Senate’s 50-50 split made it impossible for Biden to create any opportunity for Republicans to regain control of the chamber.

Klobuchar announced in 2021 that she had been treated for breast cancer, and in 2024 she announced that she was cancer-free but undergoing another round of radiation.

Klobuchar joins Democrat Michael Bennet of Colorado, Republican Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and Republican Tommy Tuberville of Alabama as senators seeking to lead their states. Bennett, Blackburn and Klobuchar are not up for re-election in 2026, so they could remain in the Senate if they do not win their gubernatorial races. Tuberville is in the final year of his six-year term and will leave the Senate in January 2027 regardless.

Barrow reported from Atlanta. Associated Press reporter Maya Swidler in Washington contributed.