Klobuchar, Demuth spar in final gubernatorial debate

Demuth and Klobuchar went back and forth on a variety of topics including fraud, affordability, healthcare, gang violence, and gun safety. Below are some of the key takeaway:

Fraud

Each candidate worked to position herself as the best pick to handle rampant fraud in the state. Demuth outlined her day-one plan to fire every commissioner and hire new commissioners.

"The thing that I will do on day one is I am going to be firing all commissioners, choosing new commissioners that are experts in their field that will carry out the accountability and transparency that is needed in our state," Demuth said. "We have to change the culture of fraud."

Klobuchar pledged to send fraudsters to jail, adding that Governor Tim Walz should have caught the fraud earlier and done more.

"When I look at what we need to do, it's a top to bottom audit," Klobuchar said. "An entirely new team that I will bring in. Protection for whistleblowers, an issue that I've worked on extensively in the United States Senate. We need to vet these contracts before they come in, and there needs to be surprise audits. You can't just do them by Zoom. We need to show up at these places and make sure they're delivering these services."

Guns

Klobuchar accused Demuth of breaking her promise to families who lost children during the 2025 mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. Klobuchar said Demuth lied to families when making a promise to vote on a gun safety package.

"She told them she would give a vote for the gun safety package," Klobuchar said. "Allow for a vote no matter how she voted on it, and she did not. She lied to them."

Demuth pushed back, telling Klobuchar and the moderators that she pledged to the families that bills would go through the legislative process. In the 2026 legislative session, Demuth never allowed a gun control bill to hit the House floor, with Democrats accusing her of holding the legislation hostage.

"I would not lie to them," Demuth said. "I said bills would be introduced, they would go through the process, and they would be voted on. That happened eight times."

Gangs/Crime

A spike in gang violence across the Twin Cities had both candidates outlining how they would work to immediately address the violence.

"When law enforcement is able to do the jobs that they've been called to do and that they want to do, and they're supported by prosecutors that will prosecute criminals, and judges that want to uphold the law, our problems could be taken care of in very short order," Demuth said, pledging to tackle gang violence with a gang task force comprised of local, state, and federal officials.

Klobuchar's plan, meanwhile, relied heavily on her time as Hennepin County Attorney and what she said was an effective gang unit.

“We had a gang unit. We went after gangsters, and I know what needs to be done,” she said.

Klobuchar added that the Minnesota BCA would be utilized to help agencies respond to gang violence and outlined a push to hire more police officers.

"Like they've done in Bloomington with Chief Booker Hodges," Klobuchar said. "Where he has a full-out police force because he's been able to recruit people from other lines of work, which is going to be really important for them to pursue this. Having benefits and having salaries that respect the dignity of the work our police officers do."

Healthcare and Cancer Treatment

Klobuchar and Demuth, both breast cancer survivors, said they wanted to improve access to screening and post-cancer evaluations for patients.

“I know that the Speaker's done some work in this area, and I will be very excited to work with her on everything from breast cancer screenings to making sure that we find a cure when it comes to cancer,” Klobuchar said. “And I appreciate her work on it."

Demuth added that more needs to be done to ensure people living in rural Minnesota have the same healthcare access as people living in bigger cities.

"When we have people on healthcare, that's how they can access the screening," Demuth said.