Amy Klobuchar

Amy Jean Klobuchar ( KLOH-bə-shar; born May 25, 1960) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Minnesota, a seat she has held since 2007. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Minnesota's affiliate of the Democratic Party, she served from 1999 to 2007 as county attorney of Hennepin County, Minnesota. She is the Democratic nominee in the 2026 Minnesota gubernatorial election. Born in Plymouth, Minnesota, Klobuchar graduated from Yale University and the University of Chicago Law School. She was a partner at two Minneapolis law firms before being elected county attorney of Hennepin County in 1998, making her responsible for all criminal prosecution in Minnesota's most populous county. Klobuchar was first elected to the Senate in 2006, succeeding Mark Dayton to become Minnesota's first elected female United States senator. She became Minnesota's senior senator in 2009, when Norm Coleman left the Senate following his defeat. She was reelected by a landslide in 2012, winning 85 of the state's 87 counties, before being reelected again in 2018. Klobuchar's political positions align with modern liberalism. She has focused on healthcare reform, consumer protection, abortion rights, agriculture, and climate change. On February 10, 2019, Klobuchar announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 United States presidential election; on March 2, 2020, she suspended her campaign and endorsed Joe Biden. In 2021, she became the chair of the Senate Rules Committee. She was reelected to a fourth Senate term in 2024, defeating Republican nominee Royce White. In January 2026, she announced her candidacy for governor of Minnesota after incumbent Tim Walz withdrew from the race.