Amy Klobuchar
Democratic candidate
The senator easily won reelection in 2018 in Minnesota, a state Donald Trump narrowly lost in 2016, and is selling herself to voters as a pragmatic Midwesterner who can get things done. She has been dogged by news reports that she is an exceptionally difficult boss; she describes herself as having “high expectations.” Klobuchar, 59, has voted with Trump more often than many of the other senators running for president, a record that she touts as bipartisan and seeking solutions. She points to her success in both urban and rural parts of her state as a sign of her broad appeal.
Klobuchar came in fifth in Iowa but then third in New Hampshire after a strong debate performance. She was sixth in Nevada and South Carolina and is fifth in the national delegate count.
In depth
Amy Klobuchar was kicked out of the hospital 24 hours after giving birth. Her outrage fueled her political rise. Five months after the birth of her only child, she made her first appearance before a legislative committee.
Marc Fisher | Jan. 31, 2020 | 15 minutes
For Sen. Amy Klobuchar, anonymity wounds again: She’s not the loudest or the most combative, and she’s not the only centrist.
Jenna Johnson | Sept. 27, 2019 | 7 minutes
A complicated inheritance from her father He was a Midwestern celebrity journalist, a man of the people and a fiery alcoholic who needed her help
Ben Terris | May 7, 2019 | 14 minutes
Her time as a prosecutor in Minnesota Klobuchar declined to go after police involved in fatal encounters with black men
Elise Viebeck and Michelle Ye Hee Lee | March 21, 2019 | 9 minutes
Climate change
A co-sponsor of Green New Deal legislation, Klobuchar supports a federal carbon-pricing mechanism. She thinks the United States should rejoin the Paris climate agreement and strengthen its targets. She favors eliminating federal subsidies for fossil fuels.
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Economic inequality
Klobuchar supports increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour, saying she would set that standard for federal contractors. She called for “up to 12 weeks of paid family leave and allowing workers to earn paid sick leave” in her plan for workers. She has also said she wants to strengthen antitrust enforcement and “undertake aggressive retrospective review of mergers.” Klobuchar supports raising the corporate tax rate to 28 percent, up from the current 21 percent, to pay for infrastructure and other things, including deficit reduction. She has also committed to stabilizing or lowering the debt-to-GDP ratio during her first term.
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Education
Klobuchar says she wants to propose a “historic investment” in U.S. public schools to boost teacher pay and help kids in underperforming schools. She supports universal pre-K that is free for low-income families. She said she wants to make community college and technical schools tuition-free and to let students refinance loans at lower rates.
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Foreign policy
Klobuchar says she’d “invest in diplomacy” and restore funding for diplomacy and foreign assistance. She says she’d sanction Russia for “election interference and other aggressive actions.” Klobuchar said she would want U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by the end of her first term. She is also open to imposing tariffs on China.
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Government
Klobuchar said she’s open to a number of changes, including eliminating the electoral college and ending the Senate filibuster. She has introduced legislation that would create automatic voter registration.
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Health care
Klobuchar has embraced legislation that would create a public health-care option on state insurance marketplaces that expands Medicare or Medicaid. She also co-sponsored a bill that would lower the Medicare eligibility age to 50. Informed by her father’s alcoholism, Klobuchar says she would work to make sure that those with substance abuse and mental health issues can receive proper help.
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Immigration
Klobuchar says she’d aim to pass comprehensive immigration reform in her first year in office, including a pathway to citizenship and the Dream Act for people brought to the country as children. She has spoken out against building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, instead favoring “smart security.” Klobuchar supports a return to the Obama administration’s policy of focusing deportation efforts on recent border crossers, convicted criminals and those who pose a national security threat, her campaign told The Washington Post.
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Who agrees with you?
Answer some of the policy questions that the candidates did and see which candidates your answers align with.
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