Retired Navy commander and business executive Joe Fraser will seek the Republican nomination to challenge DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who is running for her fourth term.
In a news release before his first stop in Duluth on Tuesday, Fraser said the “definition of insanity is maintaining the status quo and hoping for change.” He said Minnesotans’ lives have become worse during Klobuchar’s 18 years in the Senate.
“The price of groceries, gas, and medicine have skyrocketed and the American dream has become harder to reach,” Fraser wrote. “The cost of public education is soaring, yet our school system ranks 16th best in the world.”
Fraser, 50, also planned stops Tuesday in Fargo-Moorhead, Rochester and Mankato. He joins four Republicans listed on the Federal Election Commission website as challengers for Klobuchar, all of whom reported zero fundraising or money in the bank. Klobuchar reported $4 million in cash at the end of the last reporting period in September.
Klobuchar has easily defeated challengers in her previous Senate races. She won her last contest in 2018 with 60% of the vote against former state Rep. Jim Newberger of Becker.
Her campaign spokesman Ben Hill said Klobuchar is focused on her job in the Senate. “In the last Congress alone, she won her fight to force the drug companies to negotiate lower prices, and she passed a bipartisan bill to make sure veterans exposed to toxic chemicals were no longer denied the health care they deserve,” he said.
The campaign also noted that in the last Congress, “Klobuchar distinguished herself as the Senator with the most bipartisan bills, and she ranked third for passing bills into law.”
Fraser’s introductory release outlined his concerns without detailing how he would address them. “We must work to put an end to the crises at our borders, to tackle rising consumer prices and our historic national debt, and to ensure our streets and country are safe from those who wish to cause us harm,” he said.
