MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar was a heavy favorite Tuesday to win a fourth term, against a challenge from anti-establishment Republican and former NBA player Royce White in Minnesota’s key presidential contest.
Klobuchar entered the campaign with a history of big wins and a huge financial advantage. She received 58% of the vote in 2006, 65% in 2012 and 60% in 2018. And by the end of the last reporting period in September, she raised almost $21 million.
That compares to just under $449,000 for White, who admitted he was as surprised as anyone when the Republican Party endorsed him in May. The self-described populist won a majority in the August primaries against the more conventional Republican Navy veteran Joe Fraser.
Although White has been a strong supporter of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, the former president never endorsed him, and top Republican Party officials in Minnesota kept their distance. But his efforts to shore up the party have been backed by Trump strategist Steve Bannon, and White also has ties to conspiracy theorist and Infowars founder Alex Jones.
White’s NBA career was cut short by mental health issues, especially fear of flying, and he calls his podcast “Please, Call Me Crazy.” Critics have dismissed White’s comments on social media and other forums as misogynistic, homophobic and anti-Semitic. In an interview with Bannon, he once said, “Look, let’s be honest. Women have become too assertive. As a black man in the room, I will say that.
A victory on Tuesday would give Klobuchar Minnesota’s record for the most consecutive victories by a Democratic senator since the state began directly electing senators in 1918, according to Eric Ostermeier, curator of the Minnesota Historical Election Archive at the University of Minnesota. She served four terms with Henrik Shipstead, who was elected as a Farmer-Laborite in 1922, 1928 and 1934 and as a Republican in 1940.
Only two Minnesota senators won five terms: Republican Knute Nelson, who was elected by the Legislature for his first three terms, and Democrat Hubert Humphrey, whose terms were not consecutive.
Klobuchar, who announced her run for president in 2019 amid a heavy snowstorm, was chief prosecutor in Minnesota’s largest county when she was first elected to the Senate in 2006.
She chairs the powerful Senate committee that investigated security concerns surrounding the January 6, 2021 uprising. And as a member of the Judiciary Committee, she drew attention for her 2018 questioning of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Klobuchar is the daughter of Jim Klobuchar, a well-known Minneapolis journalist who died in 2022, and Rose Klobuchar, a teacher who died in 2010. Her grandfather was an iron miner.
