Amy Klobuchar (D)

(Adam Hammer - AP)

Amy Klobuchar, 46, handily defeated Rep. Mark Kennedy (R) for the seat left open by the retirement of Democrat Mark Dayton. Klobuchar, county attorney for Minneapolis and its suburbs since 1998, is known as a feisty protege of former vice president Walter F. Mondale.

During the campaign, Klobuchar said that although she supported the invasion of Afghanistan, she disagreed with the decision to invade Iraq. She said she had concluded that the administration "was not truthful about the reasons they gave for invading Iraq, nor were they truthful about having a plan to secure the peace and protect our troops once we invaded."

During her time as chief prosecutor, serious crime in Hennepin County fell significantly. Klobuchar was a leading advocate for the passage of a law in the Minnesota legislature that enabled prosecutors to charge chronic drunken drivers with felonies.