Amy Klobuchar

Amy Jean Klobuchar (born May 25, 1960) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Minnesota, a seat she has held since 2007.

A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Minnesota's affiliate of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the county attorney of Hennepin County, Minnesota.

Born in Plymouth, Minnesota, Klobuchar graduated from Yale University and the University of Chicago Law School.

She received her Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude in political science in 1982 from Yale University.

While at Yale, Klobuchar spent time as an intern for then-Vice President and former senator Walter Mondale.

After Yale, Klobuchar enrolled at the University of Chicago Law School, where she served as an associate editor of the University of Chicago Law Review and earned her Juris Doctor magna cum laude in 1985.

After law school, Klobuchar worked as a corporate lawyer.

Before seeking public office, besides working as a prosecutor, Klobuchar was a partner at the Minnesota law firms Dorsey & Whitney and Gray Plant Mooty, where she specialized in "regulatory work in telecommunications law".

Her first foray into politics came after she gave birth and was forced to leave the hospital 24 hours later, a situation exacerbated by the fact that Klobuchar's daughter, Abigail, was born with a disorder that prevented her from swallowing.

The experience led Klobuchar to appear before the Minnesota State Legislature, advocating for a bill that would guarantee new mothers a 48-hour hospital stay.

Minnesota passed the bill and President Clinton later made the policy federal law.

Her senior thesis, Uncovering the Dome, a 250-page history of the ten years of politics surrounding the building of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, was published by Waveland Press in 1986.

The divorce took a toll on the family; her relationship with her father was not fully restored until he quit drinking in the 1990s.

She attended public schools in Plymouth and was valedictorian at Wayzata High School, where she was also class treasurer and secretary.

Before running for office, Klobuchar was active in supporting DFL candidates, including Freeman in 1990.

The county attorney election is nonpartisan, but Freeman, like Klobuchar, is a Democrat.

Klobuchar was first a candidate for public office in 1994 when she ran for Hennepin County attorney.

But she had pledged to drop out if the incumbent, Michael Freeman, got back in the race after failing to win the endorsement of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) Party for governor.

Keeping this pledge, she quit the race in June 1994 and supported Freeman for reelection.

She was a partner at two Minneapolis law firms before being elected county attorney of Hennepin County in 1998, making her responsible for all criminal prosecution in Minnesota's most populous county.

Klobuchar was elected Hennepin County attorney in 1998, running after Freeman declined to seek an additional term.

In the nonpartisan election, she defeated Republican Sheryl Ramstad Hvass by a margin of less than 1%.

In 2001, Minnesota Lawyer named her "Attorney of the Year".

Klobuchar was reelected unopposed in 2002.

Klobuchar was president of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association from November 2002 to November 2003.

In 2002, Klobuchar spearheaded an effort that resulted in state laws being altered to allow felony charges to be brought against repeat drunk driving offenders.

In 2003, Klobuchar dealt with one of her highest-profile cases when the Hennepin County Attorney's Office brought several charges against former professional baseball player Kirby Puckett related to an alleged sex crime.

Klobuchar was first elected to the Senate in 2006, succeeding Mark Dayton to become Minnesota's first elected female United States senator.

In 2009 and 2010, she was described as a "rising star" in the Democratic Party.

Klobuchar's political positions align with modern liberalism.

She has focused on healthcare reform, consumer protection, agriculture, and climate change.

She is known for her folksy, Midwestern demeanor and ability to win in rural Minnesota.

She was reelected by a landslide in 2012, winning 85 of the state's 87 counties.

Klobuchar was reelected again in 2018.

On February 10, 2019, Klobuchar announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States in the 2020 election; on March 2, 2020, she suspended her campaign and endorsed Joe Biden.

In 2021, she became the chair of the Senate Rules Committee.

Born in Plymouth, Minnesota, Klobuchar is the daughter of Rose (née Heuberger) and Jim Klobuchar.

Her mother taught second grade until she retired at age 70.

Her father Jim, a retired sportswriter and columnist for the Star Tribune, was of Slovene descent.

Klobuchar's parents divorced when she was 15.