Sen. Amy Klobuchar seeks clean break from Walz, releases anti-fraud plan

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Sunday, May 3, sought to make a clean break from her fellow Democrat, Gov. Tim Walz, saying she would “treat a lot of things” in state government differently if she’s elected governor, with a special focus on stopping the theft of government money that has bedeviled the Walz administration.

“I obviously am going to do things differently than Gov. Walz. We have different backgrounds. We’re going to have some different focuses,” Klobuchar said during her first press conference since announcing her campaign for governor in late January.

Fraudsters have bilked hundreds of millions of dollars from state-supervised safety net programs, which tanked Walz’s once-rising political trajectory; he dropped his bid for a third term earlier this year after a swarm of national scrutiny of Minnesota’s safety net programs.

If elected, Klobuchar said she would conduct a “top-to-bottom” audit of state government on Day 1.

“They’re going to have to ferret out any fraud that still remains and root it out and make sure those people go to jail,” Klobuchar said at the James J. Hill Reference Library in downtown St. Paul. “But it is more than that … We want to make sure we’re taking care of the taxpayers’ money, that we are spending that money wisely on things that people need and making things as efficient as possible.”

The senior senator on Sunday released over 40 proposals to both eradicate fraud and streamline how services are delivered to Minnesotans. She carried over some of her favorite issues as senator, including prescription drug prices and rural broadband access.

Fraud in state government is Republicans’ top campaign issue this November, when all 201 legislative seats and the governorship are on the ballot. Shortly after the press conference, House Speaker Lisa Demuth, a leading candidate for the Republican nomination for governor, said that Klobuchar would be a “Walz third term.” MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and former health care executive Kendall Qualls are also running for the GOP nomination.

Anticipating the Walz third-term attack, Klobuchar distanced herself from Walz and released numerous ways she would reshape state government. Because she’s been in Washington, Klobuchar is untouched by the ongoing fraud scandal, but she said she would have taken action immediately when widespread fraud first became apparent.

“I would have looked at, where are the programs where we’re starting to see ballooning budgets, which is something that should be done all the time. When can we do these surprise audits and check on things immediately? Those are changes that I would make,” Klobuchar said.

Klobuchar has thus far run a stealthy campaign, sticking more to her usual Senate duties than major campaign events. She’s already excelled in fundraising, however, building a staggering cash advantage over her GOP opponents. In just 62 days, Klobuchar raised $4.8 million. She’ll also be backed by spending from the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and well-funded allies like Alliance for a Better Minnesota.

If elected governor, Klobuchar said she would create a “do not pay” database that blocks people and businesses that have been convicted of fraud from receiving other public dollars. (Fraudsters have often escaped detection while tapping different programs.)

She would also regularly meet with the Office of the Legislative Auditor to address issues and require more unannounced, in-person site visits of businesses that receive state dollars.

The call for in-person site visits is likely a response to Walz’s Department of Education’s oversight of the notorious Feeding Our Future pandemic-era food program. Fraudsters claimed to be feeding thousands of children out of unlikely venues like apartment buildings, senior living complexes, townhomes and office buildings, but the agency never checked to see if meals were being served. Later, the YouTuber Nick Shirley became a hero of Republicans by filming visits to childcare centers receiving state and federal money to see if they were legit.

Walz has already proposed a slew of anti-fraud proposals and implemented some through executive action.

Klobuchar also took a dig at the Democratic-Farmer-Labor trifecta in 2023 and 2024, which spent the state’s then-$18 billion budget surplus. The trifecta made significant investments in education, housing and in the creation of a state-run paid leave program.

She said that had she been governor at the time, she would have put more money into “things that just aren’t that glamorous,” such as improving water and sewer systems and modernizing computer systems for counties and state government. Doing the latter might have helped government more easily monitor potential fraud.

Despite her decades in Minnesota politics, Klobuchar sold herself as an outsider who will bring accountability to state government with an “outside look” into how the agencies are running.

“When it comes to running our state, I believe we need discipline, growth and accountability,” Klobuchar said.

Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Minnesota Reformer maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor J. Patrick Coolican for questions: info@minnesotareformer.com.