Klobuchar rushes staff to Nevada, launches ads

(FOX 9) - U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who surged into contention in the 2020 presidential race with a third-place in New Hampshire this week, is rushing staff and money into Nevada ahead of the state’s Feb. 22 caucuses.

Nevada is the next delegate-grab for Democrats in a crowded field that has gotten little clarity from the first two contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders are the frontrunners, while U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden are vowing to fight on after disappointing finishes.

Klobuchar faces significant challenges ahead, as she seeks to build out a campaign staff that has lagged behind her rivals in size. Her record as Hennepin County attorney will face more scrutiny than ever.

Klobuchar’s campaign raised $2.5 million Tuesday night in the hours after polls closed in New Hampshire, said Justin Buoen, her campaign manager. 

Amid the fundraising haul, 61 percent of the donations came from people who hadn’t previously contributed to the campaign, a Klobuchar spokesman said.

Klobuchar’s team used some of that cash to launch a seven-figure ad buy in the Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada television markets Wednesday.

Her campaign had already been moving staff from Iowa to Nevada, and will have 50 staffers in the Silver State by week’s end, a campaign spokesman said.

But Klobuchar’s team is relatively small in Nevada, meaning she has started from a standstill while rivals had a running start. Klobuchar’s campaign only opened a field office there in early January, and hired its first Nevada-based staffers in November, news reports indicate.

Other campaigns had staffers in Nevada earlier, and Klobuchar’s top four rivals all have larger teams there now. The issue dates to 2019, when Klobuchar struggled with fundraising before a surge in recent days.

Record will be scrutinized

Klobuchar’s eight-year tenure as Hennepin County’s prosecutor will face new scrutiny, as Democratic candidates grapple with support for “tough on crime” policies of the past.

On Tuesday, “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin grilled Klobuchar about the 2003 murder conviction of Myon Burrell in Minneapolis, who was accused of killing an 11-year-old girl. The case has been thrust back into the spotlight because of a lack of witnesses and evidence against Burrell, who was 16 years old at the time of the shooting.

“I’ve reviewed the facts of that case and it is one of the most flawed investigations and prosecutions that I think I have ever seen,” said Hostin, a former federal prosecutor.

“I think you know that I care so much about justice, and this case must be reviewed,” Klobuchar said. After the Minnesota Supreme Court threw out the 2003 conviction, Burrell was convicted a second time in 2008, when Klobuchar was no longer the prosecutor.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat who is among Klobuchar’s top campaign surrogates, said Wednesday that it was fair to examine Klobuchar’s record.

“I’m comfortable at this point in time,” Walz said. “They certainly become political attacks. But it doesn’t weaken the point that I think all of us look back and say, in retrospect, we should’ve maybe looked at (cases) differently. That’s what good leadership looks like. You’re not just dug in.”

The unknown of Nevada

The presidential campaigns and news media focus on Iowa and New Hampshire, but there has been relatively little attention paid to Nevada and its 36 available delegates.

No public polls have been conducted for weeks. It’s a low-turnout caucus state. 

And while the top five candidates did 708 events in Iowa and 280 in New Hampshire, they have done just 47 events in Nevada to date, according to news outlets who are tracking campaign appearances.