Klobuchar elected Minnesota governor in race shaped by fraud scandal

Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar was elected Minnesota governor on Tuesday, defeating Republican state House Speaker Lisa Demuth in a race shaped by a widespread fraud scandal in state government.

Klobuchar will replace outgoing Gov. Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, who ended his bid for a third term after the long-simmering fraud investigation exploded into a national story. She will be the first woman to serve as Minnesota governor.

Klobuchar, who has been in the U.S. Senate for 20 years, said in her victory speech that she is focused on being a “transformative governor.”

“I am not interested in moving Minnesota to the left or the right, I want to move us forward,” she said.

She pledged to audit state government and invest in new technology to detect and deter fraud.

“We are going to speed up government, rebuild trust and work for you,” Klobuchar said. “Spoiler alert: you may not like every single thing I do.”

Klobuchar also said she was “not going to be a rubber stamp for Donald Trump. And I will do my job without fear or favor. I will govern for Minnesotans and nobody else.”

Klobuchar had won four statewide elections by double-digit margins before her gubernatorial victory. She pledged to audit state government and invest in new technology to detect and deter fraud.

Fraud is the race’s defining issue

Dozens of people have been convicted of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from state-run social services programs meant to provide food, shelter, healthcare and childcare to people in need.

Charges worked their way through the court system for years with little notice outside Minnesota until late last year, when a right-wing influencer’s videos went viral and drew the attention of President Donald Trump. The president trained his ire on the state government and Minnesota’s community of Somali refugees.

Under intense scrutiny, Walz dropped his reelection campaign less than four months after announcing it, and Democrats quickly coalesced around Klobuchar.

The president last winter used the scandal as justification for a violent crackdown on immigrants in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area, galvanizing the liberal opposition to him.

Klobuchar pledged to thoroughly audit state government and invest in new technology to catch and prevent fraud. Pointing to her pre-Senate career as Hennepin County’s head prosecutor, she says she will ensure people breaking the law are convicted.

Education, crime also get attention

Aside from tackling fraud, Klobuchar focused on addressing rising costs. She called for reducing barriers to homebuilding, improving school test scores and reducing screen time in schools.

She ran for president in 2020 before stepping aside to endorse Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination. She has repeatedly told interviewers that she won’t run in 2028, when Democrats are expected to have a crowded primary field.

Through mid-October, Klobuchar had raised more than $15.5 million for her campaign, a commanding advantage over Demuth’s $3.6 million, according to campaign finance records. Without a serious Democratic challenger, Klobuchar was able to hoard cash ahead of the August primary while Demuth was focused on winning in a crowded Republican field.

Jonathan J. Cooper, The Associated Press