As Amy Klobuchar launches her run for president, a brief timeline of her political career

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var timelineData = `date,title,body,media,source,type “November 3, 1998″,Elected Hennepin County attorney,”

There’s a story Amy Klobuchar tells about what motivated her to get into politics. In 1995, she was a new mom. Her daughter, Abigail, was born with a medical condition that prevented her from swallowing. Despite her daughter’s condition, Klobuchar was forced to leave the hospital — and Abigail — 24 hours after the child’s birth.

At the Minnesota State Capitol, she became an advocate for guaranteed 48-hour hospital stays for moms and babies, according to a 2010 Elle profile. Minnesota was one of the first states to pass such a law, which later became federal law.

The corporate lawyer became a politician in 1998, when she narrowly defeated Sheryl Ramstad Hvass to be elected Hennepin county attorney.

“,,, “November 5, 2002″,”Re-elected Hennepin County Attorney, unopposed”,”

Running unopposed, Klobuchar wins a second term as Hennepin County attorney.

As county attorney, she helped to pass Minnesota’s felony DWI law, advocated for sticter prosecution of violent and career criminals and sponsored safe-schools initiatives, according to Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine.

During Klobuchar’s tenure, the number of criminal trials in Hennepin County increased by 50 percent. Her office’s conviction rate of career criminals was more than 95 percent in the last few years of her term, and sentences of those convicted matched or exceeded the guidelines set by the state in 87 percent of cases in 2005, according to a 2006 article in the Star Tribune.

“,,, “November 7, 2006″,Elected to U.S. Senate,”

Klobuchar becomes the first woman elected to represent Minnesota in the U.S. Senate,* running as a moderate Democrat.

“”I’m going to focus on my own issues – deficit, fiscal responsibility,”” Klobuchar told the Star Tribune in 2006. “”I don’t like labels. If people believe focusing on fiscal issues makes you moderate, then I’d be more moderate. I’m my own kind of Democrat.””

Klobuchar carried all but eight Minnesota counties, and won 58 percent of the vote to Republican Mark Kennedy’s 38 percent.

In her first term, Klobuchar helped secure a deal to build the new St. Croix River bridge, to get federal funding to rebuild the Interstate 35W bridge after its collapse, sponsored and passed consumer product safety bills, helped National Guard veterans get benefits, and helped champion Minnesota businesses, according to a 2012 Star Tribune endorsement that encouraged her to use her second term, if re-elected, to tackle national issues.

(*Muriel Humphrey, the wife of Hubert H. Humphrey, was appointed to fill his seat after his death).

“,https://www.minnpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/klobuchar-button_320.jpg,Courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society,image “March 31, 2008″,Klobuchar endorses Obama,”

Weeks after Minnesotans picked Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic presidential caucuses, Klobuchar joined eight other Minnesota superdelegates, including DFL Reps. Jim Oberstar, Keith Ellison, Tim Walz and Betty McCollum, in support of his candidacy for president.

In endorsing Obama over Hillary Clinton (who she supported in 2016), she cited his support in Minnesota, MinnPost reported at the time.

“,,, “November 6, 2012″,Re-elected to U.S. Senate,”

Klobuchar is elected to a second term, defeating Republican opponent Kurt Bills 65 percent to 31 percent, and carrying all but two Minnesota counties.

In 2016, her name was attached to more bills that were enacted in the then-current Congress than any other member of the Senate, according to the Medill School of Journalism. Critics sometimes say her bipartisan ethic is the mark of a senator playing it safe by supporting broadly-popular measures, while supporters say her ability to work across the aisle makes her an effective legislator.

Among other things in her second term, Klobuchar focused on health care, improving the tax code for farmers and advocated for election transparency.

According to ProPublica, Klobuchar has voted against her party 16 percent of the time in the Senate, making her the 38th most likely senator, out of 100, to do so.

“,https://www.minnpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/AmyKlobucharVoting2012_640.jpg,Klobuchar voting in 2012. MinnPost photo by Bill Kelley, “August 25, 2015″,The Senator Next Door,”

Klobuchar’s publishes her book The Senator Next Door: A Memoir from the Heartland, putting her on many people’s lists for prospective future presidential candidates. The book covers struggles she faced growing up, including with her father’s alcoholism (he is now in recovery), and her parents’ divorce, plus details her career.

It’s not her first foray into bookwriting: in 1986, she published Uncovering the Dome, which explored the decade-long political fight over building the Metrodome.

“,https://www.minnpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/KlobucharBookSigning640.png,”Klobuchar signing “”The Senator Next Door”” for State Fair attendees on August 26, 2016. MinnPost photo by Joe Kimball”, “December 7, 2017″,Klobuchar on #metoo,”

As many Senate Democrats called for Sen. Al Franken’s resignation following sexual harrassment allegations, Klobuchar’s office condemned the actions but stopped short of publicly calling for him to resign.

“”I felt I was in a different role as his colleague, that I’m someone that has worked with him for a long time, there’s a lot of trust there, and I felt it was best to handle it in that way,”” she told CNN.

In 2018, Klobuchar co-sponsored a law designed to crack down on sexual harrassment claims in Congress, with measures like making members pay for settlements, and making it harder to silence accusers by eliminating confidentiality agreements.

“,,, “September 27, 2018″,The Kavanaugh hearings,”

Klobuchar found the national spotlight during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, accused of sexually assaulting a woman while he was in high school. When Klobuchar asked Kavanaugh if he had ever drunk so much that he didn’t remember events, Kavanaugh turned the question around on Klobuchar. Kavanaugh’s handling of the question was widely seen as inappropriate, especially among Democrats, and Kavanaugh later apologized. But Klobuchar’s calm demeanor in the sound bite helped it make the rounds on TV and the internet (and earned her a portrayal on Saturday Night Live by Rachel Dratch), increasing Klobuchar’s national profile.

“,https://www.youtube.com/embed/qsVtXJtl7lw,,youtube “November 6, 2018″,Elected to a third-term,”

Klobuchar wins a third term, this time against Republican Minnesota House member Jim Newberger, with 60 percent of votes to his 36 percent.

Though her margin of victory was smaller than the last go-around, Klobuchar’s commanding win in a purple state made some speculate she might be Democrats’ best shot to take on President Donald Trump.

In the Senate, she is the ranking member of the Senate rules and administration committee. She also serves on the judiciary, the agriculture, nutrition and forestry committee, the commerce, science and transportation committee, and the joint economic, library and printing committees.

“,https://www.minnpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/DFLRaisedHands640.png,MinnPost photo by Bill Kelley,image “January 1, 2019″,Presidential speculation,”

Klobuchar’s re-election to the Senate by a large margin adds fervor to talk of her running for president, despite a pledge during the 2018 campaign to finish out her full third term in the Senate. She stoked the gossip herself, making appearances in Iowa and, on the eve of the midterms, appearing on the Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

“,,, “Feb. 5, 2019″,Announces an announcement,”

As the 2020 Democratic field for president begins to crowd, Klobuchar provides the first verbal indication in public that she’s come to a decision on a run for president on TV after the State of the Union address.

In a classic Klobuchar appearance that mixed seriousness with folksiness, she tells Rachel Maddow she’ll make an announcement one way or the other in Minneapolis Sunday.

“”It’s going to be a little cold — 20 degrees. Wear warm clothes, maybe have, you know, little heat warmers with you, but then you’ll find out my decison,”” she says.

“,https://www.youtube.com/embed/ageSrM5IXtc,Klobuchar told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow that she’d make an announcement on Sunday either way.,youtube “Feb. 10, 2019″,She’s running,”

Klobuchar announces she’s running for president in a snowy, outdoor event at Minneapolis’ Boom Island park.

“”So today, on an island in the middle of the mighty Mississippi, in our nation’s heartland, at a time when we must heal the heart of our democracy and renew our commitment to the common good, I stand before you as the granddaughter of an iron ore miner, the daughter of a teacher and a newspaperman, the first woman elected to the United States Senate from the State of Minnesota…,”” pre-event remarks sent to media say. “”…I will look you in the eye. I will tell you what I think. I will focus on getting things done. That’s what I’ve done my whole life. And no matter what, I’ll lead from the heart.””

Her announcement comes days after the Huffington Post and BuzzFeed published reports of staffers alleging mistreatment by the senator.

Among the others in the Democratic field who have said they’re running are Sen. Cory Booker, of New Jersey, former Housing and Urban Development secretary and San Antonio mayor Julián Castro, former Rep. John Delaney, of Maryland, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, of Hawaii, Sen. Kamala Harris, of California, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Several high-profile Democrats, including former Vice President Joe Biden, former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders have not made formal announcements.

You can watch the announcement here.

“,,,`

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