Amy Klobuchar

A senator since 2007, Klobuchar sweats the details, visits all 87 counties every year and responds to her constituents.

Opinion editor’s note: Voters have heard plenty about what’s wrong with the candidates. In Star Tribune Opinion’s new series, Minnesota writers make affirmative closing arguments for their choices in high-profile races. The goal is to give voters thoughtful perspectives to consider as they make their decisions.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar wrote her senior college thesis on the decade-long political machinations behind the construction of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

The Metrodome opened in 1982, the same year Klobuchar graduated from Yale. The dome was demolished in 2014 to make way for U.S. Bank Stadium and yet it’s relevant today as an example of Klobuchar’s commitment to getting under the hood of public policy.

The DFL senator’s drive to dig into the details has endured and served her — and Minnesotans — well. Since 1998, when she was elected Hennepin County attorney, she’s been one of the state’s most successful, driven and indefatigable leaders. She’s the choice for Minnesota’s next governor and it’s not even close.

Minnesota’s been through a succession of tribulations and upheavals, beginning with COVID-19; the murder of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police; pandemic-related social services fraud; political assassinations and school shootings; the violent immigration enforcement, and the broader targeting of the state and its leaders by President Donald Trump.

Klobuchar understands the challenges and opportunities ahead better than anyone. She launched her campaign in May by stating at the outset her discontent with the status quo and her intent of getting behind the wheel to drive the state hard and fast away from the era of Gov. Tim Walz.

She’s not looking to be a caretaker nor is she seeking to shift the state to the left or right ideologically. Forward is the direction, she says. Significantly, she wants to restore faith in government. She has promised not to raise taxes, to appoint a Republican as an agency head, protect abortion rights and sign an assault weapons ban.

She talks about “jump-starting” state government, helping families afford child care, preparing the state workforce for the AI revolution, attracting new jobs and residents.

“We need a government that can match the drive and ambition of our state,” she said in an interview.

If Klobuchar, with her intensity and ambition, can’t deliver on that promise, I don’t know who could.

She’s been in the U.S. Senate since 2007. Minnesotans know her as the senator who sweats the details, visits all 87 counties every year and responds to constituents.

Klobuchar works so hard that her staff wonder if she sleeps. There are late-night and early morning phone conversations with emails arriving in between.

She’s been a moderate Democrat and a productive senator who works across the aisle without burning capital or tarnishing her reputation as “the Senator Next Door.”

I’ve relished the moments when she stood up bluntly to impropriety, such as during the confirmation hearing of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and, more recently, to a Republican senator who called former special counsel Jack Smith a “dirtbag.”

At times, I have wondered whether Klobuchar could be less cautious, take bigger swings and more forcefully wield her moral authority and legislative skills.

Klobuchar’s seeking to draw upon all her talents to be a transformative governor.

The clean break starts on Day One with a promised top-to-bottom audit of state government. She wants to obliterate fraud but also find ways to make things work better and more efficiently.

“The status quo doesn’t interest me,” she has said repeatedly, adding that patience isn’t a virtue she carries.

She plans to streamline the state’s permitting and licensing process, citing Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s money-back plan if applications drag past deadlines.

The senator intends to increase school achievement while decreasing screen use in classrooms.

Klobuchar said she would use Minnesotans’ pushback on immigration enforcement to attract new residents. “We are a place that respects people from different backgrounds and we look out for our neighbors and community,” she said.

From anyone else, these would sound like a slate of ridiculously ambitious campaign promises. But not from Klobuchar. She’s been preparing for this moment her entire life.

Her reputation as a tough boss comes from her commitment to delivering on promises. She doesn’t settle for excuses, and her word is her intent.

Regardless of who controls the Legislature in 2027, Klobuchar will assert herself as the state’s chief executive, setting the agenda while hearing all sides.

“My goal is as much as possible to work with people on both sides of the aisle and the businesses community,” she said.

I’ve suspected for years that Minnesotans would overwhelmingly support a third term for the business-friendly, socially liberal, fiscally moderate Gov. Arne Carlson. The former Republican is far too liberal to earn the GOP nomination these days. I’m not saying he and Klobuchar are ideological twins, but her disinterest in partisan polemics and her centrism come close to Carlson’s.

As a reporter, I’ve witnessed Klobuchar’s career and interacted with her staff at all levels for more than two decades. Responsiveness, professionalism and preparation are hallmarks. Calls get returned. Emails are answered.

The senator demands excellence and attention to detail. Isn’t that what we want in a leader?

Klobuchar holds herself to the highest standards of all, which is why I am convinced her campaign promises aren’t empty.

She’s not just launching with an audit on Day One; she expects goals and deliverables for the first six months and at the end of the first year. I asked the senator if she wasn’t aiming too high.

I also asked her if overseeing a state with 50,000 employees wasn’t a stretch given her reputation as a control freak. She laughed and said, “I’ve run big offices before.”

It’s exhilarating to hear such a talented politician aim so high, and in closing I will underscore two issues: her commitment to protecting abortion rights and to passing an assault rifle ban.

Klobuchar’s devotion to this state, along with her pragmatic, productive approach to governing, make her the right choice to be Minnesota’s first woman governor.

We need a governor truly willing to buck the trend of the last eight years.

From Sunday, Oct. 25 to Wednesday, Oct. 28, staff and guest Opinion writers will make the best case for their respective candidates ― no cheap shots allowed.

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We need a governor truly willing to buck the trend of the last eight years.