Amy Klobuchar

Klobuchar’s grandfather worked in the iron ore mines of northern Minnesota; her father, Jim, was a newspaperman, and her mother, Rose, was an elementary school teacher who taught until she was 70. She attended public schools in Plymouth and was valedictorian of Wayzata High School.⁠[1][2]

She graduated magna cum laude from Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Its predecessor, the Collegiate School, received a charter in 1701. Trustees chose New Haven in 1716; the institution became Yale College in 1718 and Yale University in 1887. Yale provides undergraduate, graduate and professional education and has 14 undergraduate residential colleges. As of October 2026, its president was Maurie McInnis, who took office in July 2024. In 2026, Yale expanded aid for incoming undergraduates and celebrated its 325th anniversary.Open the full entry in 1982; her senior essay on the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome was published by Waveland Press in 1982 as Uncovering the Dome. She received a J.D. from the University of Chicago in 1985.⁠[2][1]

After law school Klobuchar practiced as an attorney and became a law partner. From 1999 to 2006 she was Hennepin County Attorney, leading Minnesota’s largest prosecutor’s office for eight years, with a focus on prosecuting violent criminals and increased attention to white-collar crime.⁠[2][1]

Klobuchar was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Democrat in 2006 for the term beginning January 3, 2007, becoming the first woman elected to represent Minnesota in the Senate. She was re-elected in 2012, 2018 and 2024, by margins of 35, 24 and 16 points respectively; her current term ends on January 3, 2031.⁠[2][1][3]

She chaired the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration in the 117th and 118th Congresses and has chaired the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee since 2025. She is also ranking member of the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, serves on the Joint Economic Committee, the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and the Judiciary Committee, and co-chairs the Senate Broadband Caucus.⁠[2][1]

Legislation she advanced includes broadband provisions in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the 2022 Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Reauthorization Act, provisions allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices that were signed into law in 2022, the Ocean Shipping Reform Act and the Electoral Count Reform Act; in 2022 her bipartisan digital markets antitrust bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee.⁠[1]

She is the author of the memoir The Senator Next Door: A Memoir from the Heartland (Henry Holt and Company, 2015) and of Antitrust.⁠[2][1]

Klobuchar sought the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, suspending her campaign the day before Super Tuesday and endorsing Joe Biden.⁠[2][3]

In January 2026 Governor Tim Walz ended his bid for re-election; on January 29 Klobuchar announced on X that she was running for governor of Minnesota and released a campaign video, saying “this moment calls for grit, resilience, and faith in each other.”⁠[4]

On May 29, 2026, Klobuchar named Ben Schierer, a business owner and two-term former mayor of Fergus Falls, as her running mate for lieutenant governor. Endorsed by Walz, she won the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) primary on August 11.⁠[5][6][7]

In the November 3, 2026, gubernatorial election Klobuchar defeated Republican Lisa DemuthLisa DemuthLisa Demuth is an American Republican politician and business owner who has served in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2019 and as its speaker in 2025–2026. She was the Republican nominee in the 2026 Minnesota gubernatorial election and lost to Amy Klobuchar on November 3.Open the full entry, the speaker of the Minnesota House; the Associated Press declared her the winner that night, and CBS NewsCBS NewsCBS News is the news organization of the U.S. CBS system, part of Paramount, providing news coverage through television, the web and streaming. Its history extends from radio newsgathering to television and digital platforms; its signature programs include CBS Evening News, 60 Minutes and Face the Nation, and CBS News 24/7 is its streaming news service.Open the full entry made the same projection. She is set to succeed Tim Walz as governor. Her campaign had raised more than $15.5 million through mid-October.⁠[8][3]

Office of U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar: Official website: https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1]