ST. PAUL, Minnesota — Amy Klobuchar has been elected governor of Minnesota, defeating Republican state House Speaker Lisa Demuth on Tuesday, November 3, and becoming the first woman ever elected to lead the state. The Associated Press called the race for Klobuchar late on election night, and with 4,104 of 4,105 precincts reporting she held 1,568,498 votes to Demuth's 1,204,504 — about 56.6 percent to 43.4 percent in the AP count, with an estimated 98.77 percent of the expected vote counted.
Source: Associated Press
It is the third historic first of Klobuchar's career. The 66-year-old Democrat became the first woman elected Hennepin County attorney in 1998 and the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Minnesota in 2006; after 20 years in the Senate and a run for president in 2020, she now returns to St. Paul to run the state she has represented in Washington for two decades. Her win also extends the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party's hold on the governor's office to a fifth consecutive term — Minnesota has not elected a Republican governor since Tim Pawlenty in 2006.
“I am going to be a governor, not just for the people that voted for me, but for all of Minnesota. When I said that I do not like the status quo, I meant it. We have a lot of work to do, and it'll start tomorrow,” Klobuchar told reporters at the DFL watch party in St. Paul before the race was formally called, according to Minnesota Reformer reporting of the night.
A rescue mission that became a coronation
Klobuchar was not supposed to be in this race. Incumbent Governor Tim Walz launched a bid for an unprecedented third term, then dropped it in January amid growing scrutiny of widespread fraud in Minnesota's social safety-net programs. Klobuchar entered the race that month at Walz's behest, and Minnesota Democrats — who had feared the fraud scandal would hand Republicans the governorship for the first time in 16 years — rallied behind the state's most accomplished vote-getter and fundraiser. Through mid-October she had raised more than $15.5 million, against $3.6 million for Demuth, according to campaign finance records cited by the Associated Press.
Republicans made the fraud scandal their top issue, arguing it was a failure of Democratic governance; the Trump administration cited it as a rationale for sending thousands of immigration officials into the state during Operation Metro Surge. Klobuchar distanced herself from Walz, promised to audit state government as soon as she takes office and ran on a pledge captured in one of her closing ads: “I'm going to clean up this mess.” She has also said she will not raise taxes.
What she has promised — and what she inherits
On the campaign trail Klobuchar promised to help the construction industry build 100,000 new housing units, ban cell phones from schools, create a state tax credit if Congress fails to pass health insurance subsidies, and streamline the permitting processes that companies say slow construction. She chose Fergus Falls Mayor Ben Schierer as her running mate for lieutenant governor; Demuth ran with Ryan Wilson.
The inheritance is heavy. Authorities executed search warrants on several early autism treatment providers just days before the election as the safety-net fraud fallout continues. Student test scores released last month were again stagnant, younger Minnesotans cannot afford starter homes, the state's population is barely growing, and the federal immigration crackdown has cut into the supply of workers in industries such as agriculture and construction. State spending is rising faster than revenue, creating a structural budget imbalance beginning in July; the state still holds a large rainy-day fund, but rising health-care costs, federal cuts and slow growth could push lawmakers to dip into it.
Klobuchar's move from the Senate to St. Paul reshapes two governments at once. In Minnesota she will direct some 50,000 state employees and must deliver a two-year budget by the third Tuesday in February — about 15 weeks after her win. In Washington, her U.S. Senate seat must be filled by appointment, with a special election to follow in November 2027; Minnesota Reformer reporting listed Secretary of State Steve Simon and U.S. Rep. Kelly Morrison among the potential appointees discussed. For Punjabi and other immigrant families in Minnesota — in farming, trucking and construction across the state — the state's posture toward the federal immigration crackdown was a central theme of the campaign, and her promised state-government audit begins the moment she takes office.
What happens next
Klobuchar takes office in January 2027. Her transition is funded with $162,000 under state statute to staff a team, rent office space and recruit the commissioners and senior officials who will run state agencies; she has said she wants to start fresh with new staff rather than keep Walz's personnel. “Who you bring in matters, people with management experience. And especially when you're trying to change a culture in a workplace,” she told WCCO radio on the eve of the election. Demuth, whose rapid rise to House speaker has now stalled, gave up her seat in the Legislature to run for governor; she had won the Republican primary in August over MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, whom President Donald Trump had endorsed, and party-endorsed Kendall Qualls. Results remain unofficial until Minnesota completes its canvass and certification.
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin congratulated Klobuchar as a Minnesotan who has “dedicated her career to fighting for families and serving all Minnesotans,” calling her a successful county attorney and an accomplished U.S. senator. The governor's race was part of a strong Democratic night in Minnesota, where Democrats also won the state's open U.S. Senate race.