LGBTQ+ ally Amy Klobuchar launches strong bid for Minnesota governor

Minnesota Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar announced Thursday morning that she is running for governor, making the bid official in a video posted to social media after Gov. Tim Walz recently said he would not seek a third term.

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In the video, Klobuchar described her candidacy around public safety, economic resilience, and the need for leaders willing to stand up to a hostile federal administration while still governing pragmatically. She emphasized bipartisanship, accountability, and Minnesota’s tradition of “simple decency and goodwill.”

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“We’ve been through a lot,” Klobuchar said at the start of the video, referencing a series of government killings that have fueled protests and national scrutiny. She named “the killings of Renee Good, a [queer] mom of three, and Alex Pretti, a nurse who took care of our veterans,” tying their deaths directly to what she described as an unprecedented federal presence in Minnesota communities.

Klobuchar condemned the deployment of “3,000 ICE agents on our streets and in our towns,” saying they were sent by an administration that “relishes division.” She argued that Minnesota needs leaders who will stand up to federal overreach while still working across party lines to govern effectively. “These times call for leaders who can stand up and not be rubber stamps of this administration,” she said, while also stressing the need to “find common ground and fix things in our state.”

Walz, first elected in 2018, announced earlier this year that he would step aside, opening one of the most consequential gubernatorial races of the 2026 cycle. Klobuchar, first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006 after serving as Hennepin County attorney, enters the race with near-universal name recognition and a reputation as one of the Senate’s most prolific bipartisan lawmakers.

Her announcement video focused on governance and crisis response rather than social policy. Still, Klobuchar brings to the race a long record of support for LGBTQ+ rights, including explicit policy commitments made during her 2020 presidential run.

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In a 2019 Medium post outlining her proposed first 100 days as president, Klobuchar pledged to reverse Trump-era policies targeting LGBTQ+ people, including the first ban on transgender military service. In that post, she wrote that she would “lift the ban preventing qualified transgender people from serving in the military and restore protections for the LGBTQ community.”

That commitment was consistent with her broader Senate record. Klobuchar has co-sponsored the Equality Act, voted for the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, supported LGBTQ-inclusive provisions of the Violence Against Women Act, and opposed a Minnesota constitutional amendment that would have banned same-sex marriages. She has also used her seat on the Judiciary Committee to press judicial nominees on LGBTQ+ rights and civil liberties issues.

Klobuchar has faced criticism from LGBTQ+ advocates for some of her judicial votes. In particular, she drew pushback in 2020 for voting to confirm David Ryan Stras to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, despite questions about his record on LGBTQ+ rights and his past objections to the Supreme Court’s decision striking down antisodomy laws.

Klobuchar’s video announcement repeatedly returned to themes of resilience and responsibility, presenting her bid as a call to restore trust in government amid heightened anxiety. “I like my job in the Senate,” she said, “but I love our state more than any job.”