Sen. Amy Klobuchar has filed paperwork to run for Minnesota governor and registered a campaign committee with the state disclosure board. The move follows Gov. Tim Walz's decision not to seek a third term amid a controversy over alleged welfare fraud and federal pressure. The announcement comes as roughly 3,000 ICE officers have been deployed to the Minneapolis area, drawing criticism from local leaders and rights advocates. Klobuchar has met with school principals who described families feeling 'under siege' and has urged calm.
Amy Klobuchar Files Paperwork to Run for Minnesota Governor Amid ICE Deployment Controversy
Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar speaks at the Nashua Rotary Club Meeting in Nashua, NH, U.S., February 10, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 — Democratic U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar has submitted paperwork to run for governor of Minnesota, moving to succeed fellow Democrat Tim Walz, who announced this month he will not seek a third term.
Klobuchar registered a gubernatorial campaign committee with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board; the board's public filings listed the committee on Thursday. The statewide election is scheduled for November.
Context and Reaction
The announcement comes as the Trump administration has deployed roughly 3,000 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to the Minneapolis area. The deployments followed an incident in which an immigration officer shot and killed a U.S. citizen earlier this month, and they have heightened tensions in communities across the city and surrounding areas.
Democrats and local leaders have criticized the federal agents' tactics as aggressive and unnecessary, saying the operations have left many immigrant families frightened and prompted large protests in Minneapolis. The White House says the deployments are intended to address alleged fraud and illegal immigration.
Walz, Fraud Allegations And Political Pressure
Governor Tim Walz said he would not run for another term and indicated he plans to focus on allegations of fraud in the state's welfare system — a controversy that intensified after pressure from the federal government. Rights advocates have argued that fraud claims have been used as a pretext to target immigrants and political opponents and have pointed to pardons granted by President Trump in past fraud cases as raising questions about the administration's consistency on fraud enforcement.
Klobuchar's Response
Klobuchar — a long-time critic of President Donald Trump — has met in recent weeks with school principals across Minnesota and said she 'heard horror stories of kids and parents under siege by ICE.' She has urged calm and peaceful responses from residents while arguing that the federal approach goes beyond legitimate efforts to address fraud allegations.
Local leaders, advocates and Ms. Klobuchar have called for oversight and clearer rules governing federal operations in the state as the campaign and public debate unfold.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Diane Craft)
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