Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota DFL Candidate for U.S. Senate

General Information

Name: Amy Klobuchar
Age: 52
Place of residence : Plymouth, MN

Education

College

Attended college : Yes
College : Yale University
Degree : B.A.

College : University of Chicago Law School
Degree : Juris Doctor

Political Information

Party affiliation : Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Running for a: Federal office
Running for position: United State Senator
Chamber/district: State of Minnesota
Incumbent: Yes
Previous elective offices : Elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006; elected as Hennepin County Attorney in 2002 and 1998 

URLs

Website : http://www.amyklobuchar.com/ 
Twitter : http://twitter.com/amyklobuchar
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/amyklobuchar

Other facts

Editor's note: Used from amyklobuchar.com

In 2006, Amy Klobuchar became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate in Minnesota's history. As chief prosecutor in Hennepin County, Minnesota’s largest county, and now as a United States Senator, Amy brings the values she learned growing up in Minnesota to her work every day. Her grandfather worked 1500 feet underground in the iron ore mines of Northern Minnesota. Her father, Jim, was a newspaperman, and her mother, Rose, was an elementary school teacher who was still teaching a classroom of thirty second-graders at age seventy.

Throughout her life, Amy has taken the Minnesota values of hard work and fair play to heart to get results.

As a private citizen and before being elected to public office, she was the leading advocate for successful passage of one of the first laws in the country guaranteeing 48-hour hospital stays for new moms and their babies.

And, in 1998, after serving as a partner in two of Minnesota’s leading law firms, Amy was elected chief prosecutor of Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis and 45 suburbs. As County Attorney, Amy headed the largest prosecutor’s office in the state for eight years, making the prosecution of violent and career criminals her top priority. She led the effort for successful passage of Minnesota’s first felony DWI law, and received the leadership award from Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Her safe schools initiative, community prosecution efforts, and criminal justice reforms earned national awards from both the Bush and Clinton Justice Departments. She was also elected by her colleagues to serve as President of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association. 

Since arriving in the Senate, Amy has been a strong advocate for middle-class families on the critical issues facing our nation, from promoting long-term economic growth and job creation to pushing for fiscal responsibility and accountability in Washington, from supporting our Minnesota businesses, workers, and farmers to developing homegrown energy.

Amy is known as a hard worker determined to get results, and she has taken the lead in passing several bipartisan bills and amendments through the Senate. She passed the most significant consumer product safety legislation in a generation, keeping foreign toxic products off our shores and out of our stores. She acted quickly to obtain full funding to replace the I-35W bridge, the eight-lane highway which tragically collapsed into the Mississippi River and was rebuilt in a record nine months. She took on the cell phone companies for more consumer-friendly policies. She has been a strong supporter of our troops and has worked across party lines to expand education and job opportunities for returning servicemembers and to ensure our veterans receive the full benefits and support they deserve. She has focused on bipartisan solutions to reduce our nation’s debt in a balanced way and was one of fourteen senators who fought to create the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. She helped pass the most sweeping ethics reform since Watergate and has been a leading voice for Senate rules reform.

Her bipartisan bills and amendments which have been signed into law also include a ban on foreign wood products containing formaldehyde (supported by both consumer and industry groups) as well as bills providing for safe disposal of prescription drugs, the simplification of international adoptions, a reform to give community bankers a say in the national banking system, export assistance for small businesses, beginning farmer and rancher provisions, the building of the St. Croix bridge, a ban on industry-paid travel by government safety regulators, a ban on destroying military sexual assault records (for which she obtained the sponsorship of all seventeen women senators), a health care value index to increase accountability by emphasizing quality over quantity in health care delivery systems, a ban on dangerous synthetic drugs, and improvements to driver safety. 

As chair of the Commerce Subcommittee on Innovation, Competitiveness, and Export Promotion, she has led successful national initiatives to boost American tourism, including a series of regulatory reforms recently adopted by the Administration. As co-chair of the Senate medical technology caucus, she has been a leading advocate for reducing red tape for medical device approval and her provisions for an early-alert system for drug shortages were signed into law by the President in July of 2012. As chair of the Judiciary Courts subcommittee, she played a key role in moving more judges forward to confirmation and in the two U.S. Supreme Court Justice nominations hearings.

Her work has gained national recognition. The American Prospect named her a “woman to watch,” and Working Mother Magazine named her as a 2008 “Best in Congress” for her efforts on behalf of working families. The Star Tribune reported on her substantial progress, calling her “a fast-moving legislator.” In 2012, the Disabled American Veterans honored her work to improve the lives of America’s veterans. She has received the “Highway Safety Leader Award” from the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the “Outstanding Member of the Senate Award” from the National Narcotic Officers’ Associations’ Coalition, and the “Above and Beyond Award” from the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve for her commitment to developing a supportive work environment for employees serving in the Guard and Reserves. The Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association named her Legislator of the Year in 2009 for her leadership in assisting local dealers threatened with closure.

Amy was the valedictorian of her Wayzata High School class. She graduated magna cum laude from Yale University and the University of Chicago Law School. Her senior thesis in college, published as the book “Uncovering the Dome,” chronicles the 10-year-history behind the building of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and is still used at colleges and universities across the country.

Amy is married to John Bessler, a native of Mankato who attended Loyola High School and the University of Minnesota. He now teaches law. Amy and John have a daughter, Abigail, who is 17 and is in her senior year of high school.