I took a look at Senator Amy Klobuchar’s announcement video for her gubernatorial run, and found a lot to like, which I noted at New York:

Many millions of eyes are on Minneapolis this week as the city, the state, and indeed the nation try to cope with the violence unleashed by a federal immigration-enforcement “surge” that has taken the lives of two U.S. citizens and created a huge backlash against the Trump administration’s mass-deportation initiative. Now Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar is stepping into that maelstrom and a very bright spotlight. The veteran legislator and onetime presidential candidate announced she’s running for governor this year. If she wins (and she will be a strong favorite), Klobuchar will succeed embattled two-term governor Tim Walz, the normie progressive icon who’s had a very tough 2026 already and recently decided to fold his planned bid for a third term.

It’s not just the ICE invasion of Minnesota that Klobucher will be asked to deal with as a gubernatorial candidate. Her position in the Senate (which she does not intend to resign during the campaign) means she has an enormous stake in securing legislation to rein in the abuses of law-enforcement authority so evident in her state and in ensuring the disastrous “surge” isn’t repeated there anytime soon. But she also has to cope with a very real (if exaggerated) child-care-fraud scandal that served as the pretext for the “surge” and fed Trump’s racist argument that inherently criminal immigrants are fleecing the American welfare state for benefits as Democrats stand by with approval or indifference.

Klobucher is relying on her history as a county prosecutor and her reputation as a “centrist” figure in Washington to make the case that she’s what Minnesota needs to deal with both the federal invasion and the local fraud scandal. Her campaign launch video’s relentless message is that she knows how to “stand up for what’s right and fix what’s wrong.”

More specifically, Klobuchar is calling for an end to ICE deployments in Minnesota. But she’s also pledging to “make sure the people who steal taxpayer money go to jail, and root out fraud by changing the way state government works.” She may be a Washington insider after 18 years in the Senate, but she’s an outsider when it comes to the current problems in St. Paul. Republicans, of course, will tie her to old friends and acquaintances back home and to non-centrist Democratic politicians like the Squad’s Ilhan Omar and State Attorney General Keith Ellison. But she gives Democrats a fresh political start in a state where they already have many advantages. And Klobuchar also has some demonstrated political chops: In 2024, she ran five points ahead of Kamala Harris and won 12 counties carried by Donald Trump.

Until she took this step, Klobuchar was on some lists of potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidates. Does running for governor this year enhance or demolish such prospects? You could make the argument that being a governor is a far better platform from which to run for president at present, particularly for a politician who prides herself on “getting things done.” But on the other hand, dealing with the situation in Minnesota could take some serious time, particularly given the current close division of the state’s legislature and the partisan furies so evident on the streets of Minneapolis. Running for president is not something you can do part time or half-hearted. Besides, Klobuchar could very well be pressured to rule out a presidential run during her current campaign. Since she’s 65, she could (according to current standards) run in 2032, assuming everything goes well with a gubernatorial tenure and the job at the White House is available. But realistically, she’s probably giving up presidential dreams in the face of such big challenges back home.

Many Minnesota Democrats will likely be grateful to Amy Klobucher for joining this gubernatorial race. Her famous temper could even help her convey righteous indignation over what the Trump administration has been doing to her state. If she can continue to strike the right balance between promises to fight Trump and promises to fix fraud as the election year unfolds, she should be on the road to victory.