Amy Klobuchar: Everything you need to know about the 2020 presidential candidate
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., formally entered the race for the Democratic presidential nomination on Feb. 10 during a snowstorm in Minneapolis, on the banks of the Mississippi River.
Out of the running: Following an underdog third place finish in the New Hampshire primary and two sixth place finishes in Nevada and South Carolina -- two states with substantially more diverse electorates -- Klobuchar suspended her campaign the day before Super Tuesday on March 2.
Name: Amy Klobuchar
Party: Democrat
Date of Birth: May 25, 1960
Hometown: Plymouth, Minnesota
Family: Wife to John Bessler and mother to daughter Abigail
Education: Klobuchar attended public schools in Plymouth, Minnesota, and was the valedictorian of her high school. She completed her undergraduate degree at Yale University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1982. She earned her law degree in 1985 from the University of Chicago, where she also finished Magna Cum Laude.
What she does now: Klobuchar is the senior U.S. senator from Minnesota. She was first elected as a Democrat to the Senate in 2006, re-elected in 2012 and again in 2018. Her current term ends Jan. 3, 2025. She serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee and the Joint Economic Committee. She also serves as ranking member of the Rules and Administration Committee. In the Democratic party, she serves as chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee.
What she used to do Before being elected to the U.S. Senate, Klobuchar, "headed the largest prosecutor's office in Minnesota for eight years, making the prosecution of violent and career criminals her top priority." She also, according to her Senate profile, had an increased focus on white-collar crime. Most notably, she helped pass Minnesota's first felony DWI law and worked with the Innocence Project to put in place measures to protect against false convictions.
Key life/career moments
Klobuchar was the first woman elected to the United States Senate from the state of Minnesota.
While serving in the Senate, she has helped to pass legislation including efforts to end human trafficking, combat the opioid epidemic, enact environmental regulations, and to lower prescription drug prices.
Where she stands on some of the issues:
Klobuchar has proposed a plan to address mental health conditions and substance abuse by investing $100 billion over a ten-year span.
In an appearance on ABC's "The View," Klobuchar expressed her concerns about the recent abortion ban laws passed to challenge Roe v. Wade. "These guys are setting us up, using women as political pawns to set this up for a case to go to the Supreme Court, and it makes it more important for anyone listening out there that cares about families rights to make their own decisions," Klobuchar said.
In the first democratic presidential debate, Klobuchar explained how she would handle the timing and provisions within the Iran Nuclear Deal. "I would have worked to get longer sunset periods and that's something we could negotiate to get back in the deal. But the point is, Donald Trump told us when he got out of it that he was going to give us a better deal. Those were his words. And now we are a month away from the Iranians who claim now that they're going to blow the caps on enriching uranium." Klobuchar said
Fundraising:
Klobuchar raised $3.9 million during the second fundraising quarter. She ranks seventh in amount earned so far among the other candidates coming in behind Sen. Cory Booker at $4.5 million and Sen. Kamala Harris at $11.8 million.
What you may not know about her:
Shortly into her tenure as a senator, an eight-lane bridge in Minneapolis collapsed in Aug. 2007, killing 13 people. In only 13 months after the Interstate 35W bridge collapse, the structure was rebuilt with full funding secured by Klobuchar.
In 2016, the Medill News Service ranked her as the senator who sponsored or co-sponsored the most bills that were enacted into law.
According to FiveThirtyEight, Klobuchar has voted with Trump almost a third of the time.
ABC News' Rachel Scott and Meghan Keneally contributed to this report.
