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Ongoing story / Minnesota

The 2026 Minnesota governor race: Amy Klobuchar vs. Lisa Demuth

Overview · reviewed November 5, 2026

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar won Minnesota's 2026 race for governor, defeating Republican state House Speaker Lisa Demuth and becoming the first woman elected to lead the state.[1][2] She held 56% of the vote to Demuth's 42% with 71% reporting when the race was called.[1] Gov. Tim Walz had abandoned his bid for a third term amid reports of fraud in state social services programs, leaving the race to succeed him open.[3]

Read the timeline

Follow this story to see new developments when you return.

She held 56% of the vote to Demuth's 42% with 71% reporting when the race was called.[1] Gov. Tim Walz had abandoned his bid for a third term amid reports of fraud in state social services programs, leaving the race to succeed him open.[3]

Coverage over time

Share of tracked outlets · weekly (UTC)

Week of 2025-02-24 (UTC): 9%, 18 of 197 tracked outlets (4 left, 4 center, 10 right)Week of 2025-03-03 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-03-10 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-03-17 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-03-24 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-03-31 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-04-07 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-04-14 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-04-21 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-04-28 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-05-05 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-05-12 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-05-19 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-05-26 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-06-02 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-06-09 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-06-16 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-06-23 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-06-30 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-07-07 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-07-14 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-07-21 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-07-28 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-08-04 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-08-11 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-08-18 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-08-25 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-09-01 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-09-08 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-09-15 (UTC): 17%, 32 of 191 tracked outlets (7 left, 8 center, 17 right)Week of 2025-09-22 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-09-29 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-10-06 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-10-13 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-10-20 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-10-27 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-11-03 (UTC): 6%, 12 of 209 tracked outlets (2 left, 1 center, 9 right)Week of 2025-11-10 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-11-17 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-11-24 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-12-01 (UTC): 11%, 19 of 177 tracked outlets (1 left, 4 center, 14 right)Week of 2025-12-08 (UTC): 13%, 24 of 184 tracked outlets (6 left, 5 center, 13 right)Week of 2025-12-15 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-12-22 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-12-29 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-01-05 (UTC): 32%, 63 of 198 tracked outlets (13 left, 22 center, 28 right)Week of 2026-01-12 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-01-19 (UTC): 8%, 14 of 170 tracked outlets (1 left, 3 center, 10 right)Week of 2026-01-26 (UTC): 19%, 36 of 189 tracked outlets (5 left, 15 center, 16 right)Week of 2026-02-02 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-02-09 (UTC): 12%, 21 of 180 tracked outlets (2 left, 5 center, 14 right)Week of 2026-02-16 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-02-23 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-03-02 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-03-09 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-03-16 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-03-23 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-03-30 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-04-06 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-04-13 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-04-20 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-04-27 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-05-04 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-05-11 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-05-18 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-05-25 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-06-01 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-06-08 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-06-15 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-06-22 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-06-29 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-07-06 (UTC): 3%, 14 of 560 tracked outlets (1 left, 2 center, 11 right)Week of 2026-07-13 (UTC): 7%, 41 of 559 tracked outlets (12 left, 10 center, 19 right)Week of 2026-07-20 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-07-27 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-08-03 (UTC): 2%, 12 of 537 tracked outlets (0 left, 3 center, 9 right)Week of 2026-08-10 (UTC): 1%, 6 of 545 tracked outlets (2 left, 2 center, 2 right)Week of 2026-08-17 (UTC): 4%, 18 of 464 tracked outlets (4 left, 5 center, 9 right)Week of 2026-08-24 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-08-31 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-09-07 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-09-14 (UTC): 3%, 12 of 480 tracked outlets (1 left, 2 center, 9 right)Week of 2026-09-21 (UTC): 2%, 10 of 479 tracked outlets (0 left, 1 center, 9 right)Week of 2026-09-28 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-10-05 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-10-12 (UTC): 2%, 10 of 476 tracked outlets (0 left, 1 center, 9 right)Week of 2026-10-19 (UTC): 3%, 14 of 479 tracked outlets (1 left, 4 center, 9 right)Week of 2026-10-26 (UTC): 2%, 9 of 473 tracked outlets (0 left, 1 center, 8 right)Week of 2026-11-02 (UTC): 4%, 21 of 471 tracked outlets (4 left, 6 center, 11 right)Week of 2026-11-09 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outlets, so far

LeftCenterRightLighter bar: this week so far

Each bar is the share of the outlets on our Left / Center / Right rating scale that we tracked publishing that week which carried reporting on this story, split by the outlets' ratings. We track more outlets now than in the archive, so a share keeps earlier and later weeks comparable. An outlet counts once a week however much it published, and outlets in one ownership or syndication group count as one on each side they appear on. A rating describes the outlet, not the report. A gap means no such reports were collected that week, not that nothing was reported anywhere. Weeks run Monday to Sunday in UTC, so a report published on a Sunday evening in US Eastern time counts in the next week. 3 more outlets off the scale (not rated, or outside the left-right graphs) also reported; they are not in this chart. See them.

Weekly counts, outlets and reports (20 weeks with coverage)
Outlets on the rating scale that carried this story each week, of the outlets tracked that week, newest first
Week of (UTC)LeftCenterRightOf trackedShareReceipts
Nov 2, 2026461121 of 4714%
Oct 26, 20260189 of 4732%
Oct 19, 202614914 of 4793%
Oct 12, 202601910 of 4762%
Sep 21, 202601910 of 4792%
Sep 14, 202612912 of 4803%
Aug 17, 202645918 of 4644%
Aug 10, 20262226 of 5451%
Aug 3, 202603912 of 5372%
Jul 13, 202612101941 of 5597%
Jul 6, 2026121114 of 5603%
Feb 9, 2026251421 of 18012%
Jan 26, 20265151636 of 18919%
Jan 19, 2026131014 of 1708%
Jan 5, 202613222863 of 19832%
Dec 8, 2025651324 of 18413%
Dec 1, 2025141419 of 17711%
Nov 3, 202521912 of 2096%
Sep 15, 2025781732 of 19117%
Feb 24, 2025441018 of 1979%

Latest coverage

The newest reporting in this story's record.

  1. Nov 4, 2026 · first reported · Headline from Duluth News Tribune

    Klobuchar's Senate seat could put Minnesota in national spotlight again

Background

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrats' 2024 vice presidential candidate, announced in September 2025 that he would seek a third term.[4] He ended that bid in January 2026 amid scrutiny of fraud in state social services programs and clashes with President Donald Trump.[3] Later that month, Walz said he would never seek elected office again.[5] Sen. Amy Klobuchar launched her campaign in January, promising to take on Trump.[6]

Read the full background (4 more paragraphs)

Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth entered the Republican race in November 2025,[7] followed in December by MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, a Trump ally known for denying the results of the 2020 election.[8] Trump endorsed Lindell in July,[9] but Demuth won the Republican nomination in August. Klobuchar won the Democratic primary.[2]

Several Republicans withdrew before the primary. Minneapolis lawyer Chris Madel, who represented the immigration agent who fatally shot Renee Good, ended his bid in January over objections to the federal immigration operation in Minnesota.[10] Scott Jensen, the party's 2022 nominee for governor, switched to a campaign for state auditor,[11] and Jeff Johnson suspended his campaign after his daughter was found fatally stabbed.[12]

The response to fraud remained a general election issue. In September, Demuth called for two state agency leaders to be fired and criticized Klobuchar's leadership style as "toxic." The Star Tribune reported that both candidates said the state's response should lead to firings.[13]

Klobuchar also campaigned on healthcare costs. In September, she highlighted plans to lower drug costs and insurance premiums while drawing distinctions with Demuth.[14] Klobuchar and Demuth met in their first debate in October.[15] Their first official one-on-one debate, in Rochester on October 21, was expected to be possibly their only one before the November 3 election.[16]

Supporting stories (16)
  1. Minnesota to elect its first woman governor
  2. Sen. Klobuchar, Rep. Demuth react to primary win for governor
  3. Gov. Tim Walz drops out of 2026 Minnesota governor
  4. Tim Walz officially announces he's running for a third term as Minnesota governor
  5. Tim Walz says he'll never seek elected office again
  6. Amy Klobuchar is running for Minnesota governor
  7. Minnesota Speaker of the House Lisa Demuth announces bid for governor
  8. MyPillow founder Mike Lindell officially announces run for Minnesota governor
  9. Trump endorses Mike Lindell, MyPillow founder, for Minnesota governor
  10. GOP lawyer Chris Madel ends bid for Minnesota governor, calls ICE effort a 'disaster'
  11. Scott Jensen withdraws from Minnesota governor’s race, announces run for state auditor
  12. Minnesota gubernatorial candidate suspends campaign after daughter found fatally stabbed
  13. Demuth repeats criticism of Walz, Klobuchar, calls for firings over fraud response
  14. Sen. Amy Klobuchar highlights healthcare plans, contrasts herself with Demuth
  15. Minnesota governor candidates, Klobuchar and Demuth meet in first debate
  16. Klobuchar and Demuth to meet for first official debate on Wednesday night

The full record

Each date is when an update was first reported.

All 29 recorded updates

November 2026

  1. Klobuchar's Senate seat could put Minnesota in spotlight againHeadline from InForum · 11 outlets
  2. Minnesota to elect its first woman governorHeadline from Dglobe · 21 outlets

October 2026

  1. Guest column: I’m ready to bring Minnesota a fresh start as governorHeadline from Grand Forks Herald · 9 outlets
  2. Endorsement: Elect Amy Klobuchar as governor to meet Minnesotans' needsHeadline from Detroit Lakes Tribune · 9 outlets
  3. Klobuchar and Demuth to meet for first official debate on Wednesday nightHeadline from InForum · 10 outlets
  4. Minnesota governor candidates, Klobuchar and Demuth meet in first debateHeadline from WDIO Duluth · 4 outlets
  5. Mike Lindell to endorse Lisa Demuth for Minnesota governor, drop primary recount challengeHeadline from Brainerd Dispatch · 10 outlets
  6. Minnesota governor candidates pitch plans for public safety after suburb violenceHeadline from InForum · 10 outlets

September 2026

  1. Sen. Amy Klobuchar highlights healthcare plans, contrasts herself with DemuthHeadline from The Bemidji Pioneer · 10 outlets
  2. Demuth repeats criticism of Walz, Klobuchar, calls for firings over fraud responseHeadline from InForum · 12 outlets

August 2026

  1. Mike Lindell says he will fund a recount of his primary resultsHeadline from Duluth News Tribune · 19 outlets
  2. Sen. Klobuchar, Rep. Demuth react to primary win for governorHeadline from KAAL Rochester · 6 outlets
  3. Minnesota gubernatorial candidates face off in Farmfest forumHeadline from Detroit Lakes Tribune · 12 outlets

July 2026

  1. Trump endorses Mike Lindell, MyPillow founder, for Minnesota governorHeadline from Hawaiitribune Herald · 42 outlets
  2. Woman pleads guilty to threatening Minnesota House Speaker Lisa DemuthHeadline from InForum · 14 outlets

February 2026

  1. Minnesota gubernatorial candidate suspends campaign after daughter found fatally stabbedHeadline from NBC4 Washington · 8 outlets
  2. Scott Jensen withdraws from Minnesota governor’s race, announces run for state auditorHeadline from Dglobe · 13 outlets

January 2026

  1. Amy Klobuchar is running for Minnesota governorHeadline from FOX 5 DC · 30 outlets
  2. Tim Walz says he'll never seek elected office againHeadline from NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth · 7 outlets
  3. GOP lawyer Chris Madel ends bid for Minnesota governor, calls ICE effort a 'disaster'Headline from NPR · 25 outlets
  4. Sen. Amy Klobuchar files for possible Minnesota governor run, source saysHeadline from Grand Forks Herald · 14 outlets
  5. Gov. Tim Walz will not seek third termHeadline from Dglobe · 11 outlets
  6. Sen. Amy Klobuchar considering run for Minnesota governor after Tim Walz ends reelection bid, source saysHeadline from CBS News · 10 outlets
  7. Gov. Tim Walz drops out of 2026 Minnesota governorHeadline from CBS News · 58 outlets

December 2025

  1. MyPillow founder Mike Lindell officially announces run for Minnesota governorHeadline from Brainerd Dispatch · 26 outlets

Coverage & sources

Read the reports, see how much was collected over time, or compare outlets by political leaning.

Coverage & sources →