Amy Klobuchar is ramping up efforts to win over Iowans ahead of the state's February caucuses. But as the presidential hopeful courts voters in Minnesota's neighbor to the south, there's one line she won't cross: cheering for the local favorite over her home team in a much-anticipated college football game.
The undefeated University of Minnesota Gophers head to Iowa City on Saturday to face the Hawkeyes. Iowa (6-3) is favored to win. Klobuchar, however, is sticking with the U.
"Rooting for the Gophers!" a spokeswoman confirmed to the Star Tribune.
Klobuchar won't be at the big game, though her husband will. She's scheduled to attend a televised forum in California that same afternoon. But her campaign is hosting a tailgate featuring another big Gophers fan: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Siding with her home state in a bitter rivalry hasn't always been the three-term Democratic senator's default position on the presidential campaign trail. On more than one occasion this summer Klobuchar declined to pick a favorite between the "Great Minnesota Get-Together" and the Iowa State Fair, a must-visit destination for 2020 candidates.
"They're both good," she told a fairgoer here in Minnesota. "They have a finely carved butter cow, but we have the revolving butter princesses that are unmatched but in a different category of their own."
Torey Van Oot
