Klobuchar Rolls Out Anti-Fraud Plan, Vows 'Day One' Audits in Minnesota Governor Bid

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar this week began putting policy substance behind her bid to succeed Governor Tim Walz in Minnesota, rolling out a sweeping anti-fraud plan she promised to begin implementing on her first day in office. Klobuchar, a Democrat who has held her Senate seat since 2007, announced her gubernatorial campaign in January after Walz unexpectedly opted not to seek a third term amid mounting scrutiny of fraud in several taxpayer-funded state programs. She formally unveiled her platform Sunday, May 4, in Marshall, Minn.

The Klobuchar plan targets what she called "a culture of fraud" in state government and combines tougher criminal penalties with administrative changes. Among the specifics laid out at a campaign stop and elaborated on Politics Friday on MPR News: stiffer prison sentences for fraud convictions, an automatic block on state payments to anyone convicted of defrauding the government, modernization of outdated state IT systems, streamlined permitting for builders, and a pledge to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for state programs. "You are right to be angry about the fraud. It is unacceptable and it must end," Klobuchar told supporters.

Klobuchar said she would direct the legislative auditor to begin a top-to-bottom review of state agencies "on day one" and would also create a new Office of the Inspector General — an idea that has been advanced as bipartisan legislation in St. Paul. She has positioned herself slightly closer to the political middle than the outgoing governor, telling reporters this week that she would not repeat what she called Walz's missteps. Walz, who was Vice President Kamala Harris's 2024 running mate, has become a national lightning rod for Republicans.

The Republican field is unusually crowded. Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, businessman Kendall Qualls and MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell all emerged from the GOP's February precinct caucuses as top contenders. Demuth dismissed Klobuchar's anti-fraud message as "a Walz third term," accusing her of being part of "four terms of Democratic control" that she said "doubled our state budget, raised taxes by billions and enabled a culture of fraud."

Klobuchar enters the general-election environment with strong name recognition, having won her last U.S. Senate race in 2024 by more than 15 percentage points, and she carried about 72 percent of delegate support at the Minnesota DFL caucus straw poll in February, according to party tabulations. Her campaign is also notable for what it leaves undone in Washington: should she win, she would resign her Senate seat, leaving Governor Klobuchar — or her successor — to make a high-profile appointment that could shift the U.S. Senate balance. The Minnesota Legislature is, in parallel, weighing several bipartisan anti-fraud bills that would echo many of the proposals she has now made central to her run.