Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar announced Thursday she will run for Minnesota governor, seeking to replace two-term Gov. Tim Walz, who recently said he would not seek a third term.
Walz exited the race earlier this month amid criticism from the Trump administration that the state failed to find alleged instances of COVID relief fraud at Minnesota child care facilities.
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Klobuchar is serving her fourth term in the U.S. Senate. She was reelected in 2024 with 56% of the vote.
She is by far the highest-profile Democrat to enter the race. Several other prominent Democrats, including Sen. Tina Smith and state Attorney General Keith Ellison, have declined to run.
Some Democrats have expressed interest in the office, but Klobuchar’s candidacy may make theirs less likely.
Her announcement comes as Minnesota has drawn national and international scrutiny over the Trump administration’s increased immigration enforcement in the state. Two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were fatally shot by immigration enforcement officials.
In her campaign statement, Klobuchar referenced the killings of Good and Pretti, as well as an August 2025 school shooting in Minneapolis and the 2025 assassination of the Democratic leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives.
“We cannot sugarcoat how hard this is. But in these moments of enormous difficulty, we find strength in our Minnesota values of hard work, freedom, and simple decency and goodwill,” Klobuchar said. “These times call for leaders who can stand up and not be rubber stamps of this administration, but who are also willing to find common ground and fix things in our state.”
Klobuchar said she intends to be a bipartisan leader, noting the number of bipartisan bills she has advanced in the Senate.
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Earlier this week, the governor’s race was upended when Republican Chris Madel announced he would withdraw in protest of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies.
The GOP field remains crowded, including House Speaker Lisa Demuth, 2022 Republican gubernatorial nominee Scott Jensen and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell. President Donald Trump has already endorsed Lindell in the primary.
