Klobuchar has touted her Midwestern roots and ability to work across the aisle to pass legislation while campaigning as a moderate choice. She was first elected to the US Senate in 2006.

Yale University, B.A. (1982); University of Chicago Law School, J.D. (1985)

May 25, 1960

John Bessler

Congregationalist (United Church of Christ)

Abigail

Hennepin County attorney, 1999-2007;
Partner at the law firm Gray, Plant, Mooty, Mooty and Bennett in Minneapolis, 1993-1998;
Attorney, and later partner at the law firm Dorsey and Whitney in Minneapolis, 1985-1993

KLOBUCHAR IN THE NEWS

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STANCES ON THE ISSUES

climate crisis

Klobuchar dedicated a portion of her announcement speech to climate, saying that within her first 100 days in office, she would “reinstate the clean power rules and the gas mileage standards and put forth sweeping legislation to invest in green jobs and infrastructure.” Klobuchar in September 2019 released a climate plan to put the US on a path to 100% net-zero emissions by 2050 through “sweeping” legislative revisions. Klobuchar has committed to rejoining the Paris climate accord, a 2015 landmark deal on global warming targets that Trump has pledged to abandon, on “Day One.” While she has co-sponsored the Green New Deal – the broad plan to address renewable-energy infrastructure and climate change proposed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York – she has said in multiple interviews that she sees the bill as more “aspirational” than a solid legislative proposal. More on Klobuchar’s climate crisis policy

economy

Klobuchar has said the Trump corporate tax cuts in 2017 went “way too far.” She would raise the corporate tax rate to 25%, something she says would provide $100 billion to pay for “people’s roads and bridges.” Under a retirement savings plan she introduced in the Senate, she would return the household tax rate to 39.6% for top earners. She opposes the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement – a successor deal to the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiated by Trump – as it is written and has called for changes. She has said she believes “we need to be doing everything we can to help American farmers sell more of their products in foreign markets.” Klobuchar has called for equal pay and is a co-sponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would provide remedies for wage discrimination. More on Klobuchar’s economic policy

education

Klobuchar rolled out her education plan in July 2019, pledging to roll back a host of Trump’s education priorities, including a school choice tax credit, a plan that critics believe would take money away from public schools. She has previously expressed support for free community college and expanded financial aid for low-income students – but is against making all public colleges free. “I am not for free four-year college for all, no,” Klobuchar said in February 2019 at a CNN town hall. “If I was a magic genie and could afford to give that to everyone, I would.” The senator does not support wiping out all student debt, but does back expanding loan forgiveness for people in “in-demand jobs” and refinancing student loans at lower rates. More on Klobuchar’s education policy

gun violence

Klobuchar has sought to explain her view on guns through her home state of Minnesota and her family’s love of hunting. With that standard in mind, Klobuchar says she supports banning so-called assault weapons, bump stocks and high-capacity magazines. She has also backed universal background checks. “We should join the majority of Americans and actually many gun owners in having the courage to pass common-sense gun safety legislation,” Klobuchar said at a CNN town hall in February 2019. The senator has also proposed closing the “boyfriend loophole” in order to stop people who abused their dating partners from buying or owning firearms. More on Klobuchar’s gun violence policy

healthcare

Klobuchar has voiced skepticism about “Medicare for All” legislation, which would create a government-run health care plan and essentially eliminate the private insurance industry. During the first Democratic primary debate in June 2019, she expressed concern about “kicking half of America off of their health insurance in four years.” Instead, she supports creating a government-run public option, which she has said could be done by expanding Medicare or Medicaid. She also wants to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, promising to take executive action to do so during her first 100 days in office by increasing federal subsidies for premiums and out-of-pocket expenses, as well as other methods. Also during her first 100 days, Klobuchar said, she would allow the importation of drugs from countries such as Canada. And she supports allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices. More on Klobuchar’s health care policy

immigration

Klobuchar supports comprehensive immigration revisions, including a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who are in the country legally, refugees who have been in the country for decades and undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US as children and qualified for protections under Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. She has said she would issue an executive order to end family separation at the border and to reunify children already separated from their parents. She does not support abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and instead would opt to overhaul the law enforcement agency. The senator is opposed to building a wall across the entire US-Mexico border but has called for “smart border protection,” including improved fencing and technology. More on Klobuchar’s immigration policy

LATEST POLITICAL NEWS

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