On ballot herself, Klobuchar devotes campaign time and resources to lifting other DFLers

On a recent sunny Saturday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar joined a who’s who of Minnesota Democrats at a west suburban campaign office where volunteers were gearing up for a neighborhood canvass.

It’s an area that is critical in the DFL’s effort to hold the Legislature, with a Senate special election and a competitive House race shaping up as tipping point races this fall.

Describing the area as “my old stomping ground,” Klobuchar introduced the all-female cast of candidates around her and reflected on the political shift toward Democrats in the suburbs. 

“I also think this is an area where you’ll see a whole lot of independents voting for this ticket behind me and moderate Republicans,” she said.

Klobuchar used her speaking time to highlight those races rather than her own bid for a fourth term, a rarity for a Minnesota U.S. senator.

“We must keep Minnesota’s pro-choice majority in the House and the Senate,” she told the get-out-the-vote rally.

Klobuchar has an 11-point lead in an MPR News, KARE 11, Star Tribune poll out this week. It’s been hard to tell there’s much of a race at all. She barely acknowledges her Republican challenger, Royce White, and is often out campaigning for other Democrats in Minnesota and beyond.

Klobuchar had a $6.5 million campaign stockpile through July — almost 125 times more than White, a conservative podcaster and former professional basketball player who won the Republican nomination in August. Klobuchar began spending some of that recently on a batch of TV ads. 

Klobuchar and her campaign staff can regularly be found in key legislative districts.

While Democrats control the Legislature now, the margins are slim. Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman said although not everyone who turns out for Klobuchar will support other DFL candidates, Klobuchar makes a good argument for the party.

“She’s a pragmatic person who people can relate to. She’s good at getting things done and working across party lines,” said Hortman, of Brooklyn Park. “And so I think in that way, she’s a really extraordinary ambassador for the DFL brand.”

Minnesota Democrats have come to rely on Klobuchar for party building. DFL Party Chair Ken Martin calls the senator a “speaker maker.” 

“Every time she’s been on the ballot since 2006 or in her first election for the U.S. Senate, she’s helped immensely with down-ballot races,” Martin said. 

Consider the numbers: In 2006, when Klobuchar was first on the ballot for senator, Democrats scooped up 19 more seats in the House. In 2012, it was a 12-seat gain and the last time — 2018 — Democrats picked up 20 seats. All three times, the DFL flipped chamber control from Republicans.

Kelly Fenton, a former state lawmaker and past deputy chair of the Minnesota GOP, concedes Klobuchar’s popularity.

But Fenton thinks that the Minnesota senator might have a more difficult time boosting other Democrats this year because of high interest in the presidential race. Republicans, she predicts, are in for a lift this time given former President Donald Trump’s ability to turn out sporadic voters.

“We’re seeing similar energy to 2016, which was far different and far better than 2020,” Fenton said. 

In 2016, Republicans rode Trump’s strong Minnesota showing to 77 seats in the Legislature, one of its biggest-ever majorities. Four years later, Republicans gained a handful of seats but not enough to make up for losing the majority in the 2018 midterm.

Fenton said she thinks voter fatigue with the status quo of Washington might work against a senator of 18 years.

A key legislative race this fall is an open-seat contest in the east metro House District 41A, a district that runs along the St. Croix River and includes the communities of Afton and Lake Elmo. It’s one Republicans have held for the last two years.

Lucia Wroblewski, the Democratic candidate, is hoping help from Klobuchar’s formidable campaign operation will pull her across the finish line.

“It’s significant, it’s going to help,” she said. “Their campaign has been out assisting us with door knocking."

And putting up lawn signs, Wroblewski adds. “She’s a great team player and it’s an honor to be on the ticket with her.”

Republican nominee Wayne Johnson, a former Washington County commissioner, said he’s focused on local issues when he talks to voters rather than candidates in other races, from the Senate up to the presidency.

Klobuchar’s national profile has grown significantly since she arrived in Washington in 2007.

Accordingly, she’s often pressed into service to help Democrats all over the country; she was in Florida and Pennsylvania this month.

But just as she was in her previous three campaigns for Senate, Klobuchar is frequently back in Minnesota — hoping to round out her annual 87-county checkoff all while helping local candidates.

“After you’ve been around a lot, you know a lot of people and I spend a lot of time, especially in suburban areas, because of growing up in the suburbs, and I can be particularly helpful,” Klobuchar said.

Klobuchar will have to focus squarely on her own campaign when she and White meet in an Oct. 27 debate on WCCO Radio — perhaps their only head-to-head showdown before the election.

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