Minnesota Senate Election Results: Klobuchar Wins

MINNESOTA — Sen. Amy Klobuchar easily won a third term Tuesday over her Republican opponent, Jim Newberger, despite his last-ditch efforts to tie her to the liberal “mobs.”

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Klobuchar had 1,564,634 votes or 60 percent; Newberger had 939,438 votes, or 36 percent.

Speculation over whether Klobuchar will run for president in 2020 began months ago, and talk will likely increase after a victory Tuesday.

"Amy Klobuchar is clearly one of the most successful politicians to come out of the state since Walter Mondale and Hubert H. Humphrey. She owns the state politically," Lawrence Jacobs, a political expert at the University of Minnesota," told the Washington Post in September.

"And it's not force of personality; it's channeling the concerns of Minnesota."

Klobuchar made national news last month after asking then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanugh whether he had ever been blackout drunk. Klobuchar posed the question after making reference to her own father's battle with alcoholism.

"I don't know," Kavanugh responded. "Have you?" He asked her twice.

Kavanugh apologized to the Senator from Minnesota after a break. But Klobuchar later admitted she was "really stunned" by his behavior during the hearing.

MINNEAPOLIS— Polls have closed across Minnesota. Stay with Patch Tuesday night as vote totals pour in.

Minnesota’s senior Democratic Senator, Amy Klobuchar, rarely makes cable news headlines. She isn't known as a partisan bomb-thrower and doesn't use her time on the Senate floor for much grandstanding.

But Klobuchar’s longshot opponent, Republican Jim Newberger, spent the final days of the 2018 campaign trying to tie her to the liberal “mobs” referenced by President Donald Trump.

“Amy Klobuchar sides with the extreme,” Newberger — who was elected to the Minnesota House in 2012 — said on Twitter. “This November 6th, don't let the mobs win. Vote for Jobs not Mobs!”

Find all of Patch's Minnesota election coverage here.

In one of his final pleas asking voters to chose him over Klobuchar, Newberger shared a campaign ad that shows someone pouring gasoline over his own campaign sign before lighting it on fire and walking away.

Newberger also tried to tie Klobuchar to mail bombing suspect Cesar Sayoc.

Sayoc, 56, was arrested in connection with 13 makeshift bombs that were mailed to Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, CNN's Columbus Circle bureau and Robert De Niro's Tribeca office and restaurant, among others, law enforcement officials said.

Sayoc was charged more than two decades ago in Hennepin County with theft by swindle over $500 and fifth-degree possession of .5 grams of crack cocaine.

Those charges were later dismissed in 2005, while Klobuchar was the Hennepin County Attorney General.

"She let him go," Newberger told KMSP last month. "We are still digging into this, but she does have a connection to this individual."

However, after Newberger’s statement, the county revealed those charges were actually dismissed by an assistant Hennepin County attorney on Sept. 8, 2005, not then-county attorney Amy Klobuchar.

On the issues

Klobuchar is a staunch critic of President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies. She’s voted in line with his position 30.4 percent of the time, according to FiveThirtyEight.

Newberger has been a vocal supporter of Trump. This summer he said “the diplomatic efforts of President Trump are paying off.”

The two candidates disagree on most of the major legislative battles in Washington D.C.

Klobuchar supports the Affordable Care Act, while Newberger hopes it gets repealed. On his website, Newberger wrote that “the Democrats nearly destroyed one of the best healthcare systems in the world.”

Newberger has opposed several gun control measures in Minnesota, while Klobuchar supports banning assault weapons, bump stocks, and wants stricter background checks.

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Perhaps the biggest point of disagreement is on climate change.

Klobuchar supports investing in clean energy technology and stepping up pollution regulations in order to battle climate change.

Newberger doesn’t believe climate change is man-made. At a debate this year, Newberger said that "climate change, the number one factor in climate change is the sun, and we cannot change the way the sun operates," Minnesota Public Radio reported.

More than 535,000 Minnesotans voted before Tuesday

Early voting in Minnesota this year began Sept. 21. As of Monday morning, at least 539,806 absentee ballots had been accepted, almost keeping pace with the 2016 presidential election.

The rate of absentee ballot requests this year increased 129 percent over 2014, which was the last statewide non-presidential election.

“Early voter participation in Minnesota is at record levels,’” Secretary of State Steve Simon said in a statement Monday.

“With less than 36 hours remaining in the 2018 election, Minnesotans are on-pace to hold our #1 title for voting participation.”

Crucial votes in the suburbs

Several races for U.S. House in the Twin Cities metro area could come down to a tiny margin of voters in the suburbs. With the midterms today, it's worth taking a look at the political landscape of the metro.

Read on: Most Liberal, And Most Conservative Twin Cities Suburbs: List

Minnesota Election Day Weather

You may have to get through rain and snow showers on your way to the polls Tuesday. Election Day will feature plenty of precipitation in the Twin Cities.

Minnesota Weather: Election Day 2018 Forecast

Haven't registered to vote yet? Don't worry. Minnesota residents eligible to vote can register on Election Day at their polling location. You will need to show proof of residencebefore you vote.

If your voter registration is current and active, you do not need to bring an I.D. to the polls.

Where do I vote? You can enter your address into Minnesota's Polling Place Finder to find out where you vote

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Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images