Amy Klobuchar: 5 things to know

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Amy Klobuchar: 5 things to know

Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., has a fighting chance for the Democratic 2020 nomination. Here are 5 things to know about Sen. Klobuchar.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., began her bid for the 2020 Democratic nomination as one of the lesser-known senators seeking to unseat President Trump. But her scrappy campaign managed to outlast both Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., leaving Klobuchar with a puncher's chance of uniting the party's centrist wing on the way to a nomination.

Here are five things to know about Klobuchar as the 2020 presidential election cycle is officially underway.

1. She's painted herself as a moderate Democrat

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., speaks at her election night party, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020, in Concord, N.H. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

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In a purple state, Klobuchar has always been careful to not to use liberal rhetoric in her campaigns. It's been a strategy that's largely paid off, as she's never lost an election. But her moderate statements from the past have come up throughout a 2020 campaign in which some Democrats are pushing the party toward far-left policies like the Green New Deal and "Medicare-for-all."

In February, it came out that Klobuchar had called for a border fence in 2006. In January it was reported that she called for "reducing abortions" in a 2006 interview — though she made clear at the time that she was pro-choice.

2. She interned for former Vice President Walter Mondale

As a college student, Klobuchar got her first taste of working in a presidential administration as an intern for former Vice President Walter Montale under the Carter administration.

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Though she says she "was assigned to inventory all the office furniture," Klobuchar said she learned from the experience.

"Do good work no matter the assignment & listen to wise mentors," she said in a tweet honoring Mondale's birthday.

3. She's been accused of mistreating her staff

Huff Post reported in early 2019 that some former staffers of Klobuchar's said she verbally demeaned them, made one aide cry after being late and had staff take care of personal tasks like getting her dry cleaning. Additionally, BuzzFeed reported that Klobuchar had thrown office supplies, including a binder, at staffers.

The Huff Post report noted that three candidates for senior positions in her campaign withdrew from consideration for the jobs, partially because of Klobuchar's history with staffers.

4. She was ranked as the most effective Democratic senator by a Vanderbilt study

A Vanderbilt study released in February 2019 ranked Klobuchar as the most effective Democratic senator along with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, as the most effective Republican senator. None of the other Democratic senators who ran for president ranked in the top 10.

The study measured members' effectiveness based on the number of bills they sponsor, how far they advance and the bills' significance, among other factors.

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5. She comes from a middle-class background

For anyone watching Klobuchar's campaign, it would be hard to miss her stump speeches on her blue-collar origin story.

"Amy Klobuchar has always been guided by the values she learned growing up in Minnesota," reads the first line of the bio on her campaign website. "Her grandfather worked 1,500 feet underground in the iron ore mines of northern Minnesota. Her father, Jim, was a newspaperman and her mother, Rose, was an elementary school teacher who taught second grade until she was 70."

The senator's campaign is likely hoping her midwest roots will help win back some of the rust-belt voters that helped Trump into office in 2016.

Fox News Lukas Mikelionis contributed to this report.