On Sunday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) announced that she will be entering the 2020 Democratic primary for president. In her announcement, Klobuchar detailed her Midwestern roots and directly addressed money-in-politics, calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and “get the dark money out of politics.” The speech criticized the “insidious forces … trying to drown out our voices with big money.”

Klobuchar, who was Minnesota’s first elected female U.S. senator, has served in the Senate since 2006. She had been a private-practice lawyer and then a county attorney in Minnesota before her election to the Senate. Klobuchar gained national attention in 2018 and 2019 for her tough questioning of Trump administration and Supreme Court nominees from her position on the Senate Judiciary Committee. As a senator she was also known for getting things done, passing more legislation into law than any other senator in 2016. In the 115th Congress, she sponsored 86 bills, the fourth most of any member of Congress.

Compared to other declared candidates, Klobuchar isn’t as powerful a fundraiser. From 2013 to 2018, Klobuchar raised more than $10.6 million, which was less than the average incumbent Senate member — $16.7 million — over that time. She has $3.9 million cash-on-hand, which is significantly less than her fellow senators running except Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who wasn’t up for reelection in 2018.

She was a particularly popular recipient of funds from three industries in 2018 — she was number one recipient of food products manufacturing ($65,195) and lodging/tourism ($103,578) and was the number two recipient of dairy money ($50,180). Law firms/lawyers donated the most towards her reelection in 2018, giving more than $1 million.

In 2018, Klobuchar drew some significant PAC money, predominantly from the leadership PACs of other congressional members. In total, of the more than $1.9 million, $313,600 came from from leadership PACs. A wide variety of her colleagues supported her from Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.V.) Country Roads PAC to fellow presidential challenger Harris’ (D-Calif.) Fearless for the People.

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Another major source of PAC money came from, unsurprisingly, agribusiness, especially the agricultural services industry which gave $84,750 in 2018. The PACs for CropLife America and Deere & Co each gave the max of $10,000. She also received $56,000 from crop production industry PACs. One of her largest donors was also agriculture-related. Cargill, a Minnesota-based international food supplier, contributed $41,285 from individuals in 2018.

In 2018, insurance industry PACs substantially contributed to Klobuchar’s reelection campaign, giving in all $94,400. Her campaign also received backing from a number of securities and investment firm PACs like UBS Americas who contributed $10,000.

Her top overall contributor in 2018 was the law firm Dorsey & Whitney, which between its PAC and individuals gave $65,050. Klobuchar used to work in their Minnesota office before her political career. Delta Airlines gave $60,054, with $10,000 of that coming from its PAC, in 2018. Cargill, Disney and Land O’Lakes round out her top five contributors for the cycle. Klobuchar was the top recipient of each of those companies’ contributions except Delta.

Since she started in the Senate, Klobuchar has had a fairly robust leadership PAC called Follow the North Star Fund. In the past three election cycles it has raised more than $600,000, setting a high in 2018 with almost $643,000. The two largest sums to the PAC in 2018, $20,000 each, came from NAU Country Insurance and Starkey Hearing Technologies. The third-largest donor was the PAC for American Crystal Sugar which donated $15,000.

The House candidates that were recipients of the PAC’s funds were all running in Minnesota. Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) and unsuccessful candidate Daniel Feehan (D-Minn.) each received $10,000 each. Another unsuccessful House candidate, Joe Radinovich, received $5,000 from the PAC. The top recipient in the Senate was former Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) with a $15,000 contribution. One of Klobuchar’s 2020 Democratic primary opponents, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), received $10,000 from the leadership PAC. Another potential 2020 candidate, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), also got $10,000.



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