DES MOINES, Iowa — Amy Klobuchar intends to compete in New Hampshire, regardless of how she performs in Monday’s kickoff Democratic primary contest in Iowa.
Klobuchar, a Minnesota senator and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, committed to the first-in-the-nation primary on Feb. 11, declining to speculate where she needs to finish in the Iowa caucuses to sustain her long-shot White House bid.
“I’m going to New Hampshire no matter what. There’s a debate. I’m on the debate stage. I’ve got the endorsements of every major paper in New Hampshire, including the Union Leader, that have endorsed in New Hampshire,” she told Fox News Sunday, referring to Manchester’s most-read newspaper. “So of course I’m going there, we have a strong operation there, and then going beyond.”
ICYMI: Sen Amy Klobuchar joined Chris to talk strategy heading into the Iowa Caucuses on Monday. #FNS #FoxNews pic.twitter.com/WwHIwBeB8A
— FoxNewsSunday (@FoxNewsSunday) February 2, 2020
Klobuchar, 59, has invested heavily in Iowa, visiting all 99 counties in a state where she believes she is advantaged as the senator for neighboring Minnesota who shares caucus-goers’ Midwestern sensibilities.
Yet, while she’s experiencing a late surge in polling and fundraising, she’s still stuck in the second tier of contenders, behind the likes of former Vice President Joe Biden, 77, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, 78, the race’s perennial front-runners. She’s also at risk of not reaching the 15% threshold level of support required to stay in the hunt for delegates and the nomination.
But the senator on Sunday brushed aside concerns that her focus on Iowa had come at the expense of her standing in New Hampshire, alluding to how her role as a juror in President Trump’s impeachment trial may have dampened her chances in both states.
“I literally don’t put those kind of litmus tests. We have to do well here. There’s been a lot going on, having been gone the last few weeks that I didn’t expect to happen,” she said.
Klobuchar averages 8.8% support in Iowa and 6.8% in New Hampshire, according to RealClearPolitics data.
