U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar has won the Democratic primary for Minnesota governor, capturing 89.1% of the vote and beating out six other candidates, including former state Capitol staffer Kobey Layne.
She will now face the winner of the Republican primary in November’s general election. This is Minnesota’s first open governor’s race since 2018, after Gov. Tim Walz announced he would not seek a third term.
Klobuchar entered the race in January. She had been the leading candidate from the start, holding the party endorsement and Walz’s backing. At 66, she is in her fourth Senate term, and she made history as the first woman to represent Minnesota in the Senate. Her career began as a Hennepin County prosecutor, and she briefly ran for president in 2020.
Since her first election in 2006, Klobuchar has risen to 14th in Senate seniority and is the third Democrat in Senate party leadership. A graduate of Wayzata High School, she earned degrees from Yale University and the University of Chicago Law School. She is married to John Bessler, and they have one daughter, Abigail.
In May, Klobuchar announced her running mate: former Fergus Falls Mayor Ben Schierer. On social media, she wrote, “I’m excited to announce my running mate for Lieutenant Governor: former Fergus Falls Mayor Ben Schierer. Ben hasn’t just talked about how to create opportunities in greater Minnesota – he’s actually done it. He knows what it takes to run a small business – he’s run two of them. He knows what it takes to get results by bringing people together – because that’s what he did as mayor. Together we’ll bring that energy to every corner of Minnesota.”
The election is six months away, and the campaign season is heating up. Klobuchar has already held her first policy event as a gubernatorial candidate, outlining a plan to modernize state government and tackle fraud.
