Sen. Amy Klobuchar and GOP challenger Royce White meet before a candidate forum at Farmfest in Morgan, Minn., on Aug. 7. (Shari L. Gross/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Opinion editor’s note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Minnesota Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

•••

Three-term U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is as close as it comes in politics to being a sure thing. While it’s too late to change that for the 2024 election, Minnesota Republicans should start the search now for a serious candidate who can actually challenge her in 2030. Competition is beneficial for both voters and politicians.

Klobuchar, 64, a Democrat, is seeking a fourth term in Washington, D.C. While upsets can and do happen, the double-digit margins of victory in her last three races is a key reason why one is unlikely in her 2024 matchup with Republican candidate Royce White.

Klobuchar trounced challengers in 2006, 2012 and 2018 with an astounding average margin of 26.3%. She heads into the 2024 election’s closing days with a massive financial advantage over her unconventional opponent.

White, 33, is a former NBA player turned political provocateur. He is a frequent contributor to the InfoWars show hosted by Alex Jones, who is infamous for falsely claiming the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting didn’t happen.

Klobuchar has provided sensible representation, emerging as a champion for veterans and consumer protections. She’s also an outspoken reproductive rights advocate. But there’s always room for growth.

A cyberattack earlier this year at a subsidiary of Minnesota-based UnitedHealth illustrated one such opportunity. The massive hack compromised consumer data. Klobuchar has written a book called “Antitrust.” The Washington Post reported that Klobuchar serves as the lead Democrat on a Senate panel that reviews antitrust concerns. But, the newspaper noted, the panel had “never summoned UnitedHealth to testify on its operations.”

A credible challenger could help push Klobuchar to expand her range. “Even popular and well-respected incumbents benefit from robust opposition when facing re-election,” said Minnesota Republican analyst Michael Brodkorb, who is voting for Klobuchar. “A competitive campaign pushes candidates to engage more deeply with voters. A strong challenger can channel any latent dissatisfaction with the electorate and present a fresh alternative to voters.”

Voters will decide if White is that candidate, but they also need to ensure he has the judgment to ably serve. White does represent a welcome Minnesota milestone. He is the first Black major-party U.S. Senate nominee.

Elsewhere, three Black women are also seeking historic wins in the Maryland, Delaware and Indiana U.S. Senate races: Angela Alsobrooks, Lisa Blunt Rochester and Valerie McCray, respectively. Blunt Rochester has served in the U.S. House and in the cabinets of two governors. Alsobrooks, an attorney, has served as a prosecutor and as a county executive. McCray has a Ph.D and is a longtime clinical psychologist.

White lacks the trio’s distinguished credentials. His podcasts, public appearances and social media posts also suggest he has a curious worldview: that a shadowy, pro-war cabal emerging after World War II shapes global events. Among those dark forces: former President George H.W. Bush, according to White’s event at the University of St. Thomas on Wednesday.

That view is context for a controversial 2022 Twitter post that surfaced recently. “It dawned on me today… The bad guys won in WWII. There were no ‘good guys’ in that war. The controlling interests had a jump ball. If you look closely, you see the link between liberalism and communism in the Allied forces. Remember what Gen. Patton said and why they capped him,” White’s tweet stated.

Gen. George Patton died in 1945 from injuries sustained in a car accident.

White is an unorthodox candidate who doesn’t shy away from controversy or rudeness, for that matter. In that spirit, we’ll forgo further analysis and instead offer up a collection of his statements to assist voters. Here is White, in his own words:

“Look, let’s just be frank. Women have become too mouthy. As the Black man in the room, I’ll say that.” — Steve Bannon show, 2023.
“Alex Jones was right” — statement written on his scalp as White played in a three-on-three basketball league.
“The LGBTQ movement is the brainchild of radical feminists and their cucked men.... At least from a political standpoint” — tweet, Dec. 3, 2023.
“No... You RINO scum, I’m coming to break the Senate. You omnibus neocons are f------ done. Harris is more likely to vote with you cowards than vote against you. We see through this WWE [BS]” — tweet, Sept. 28, 2024, in response to a comment by Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
“The vaccine industry is a racket” — tweet, Sept. 24, 2024.
”This whole separation of church and state thing has been a lie from the beginning” — University of St. Thomas event on Wednesday.
“The first time I started my campaign at the Federal Reserve they said I was a debt hawk. And that I was dogwhistling antisemitism because I was at a place where a lot of Jewish elites actually run the Fed.” — KSTP report, July 5, 2024.
“When I say Tim Walz is a communist, what I’m saying is this … they actually have the audacity to tell you that prosperity and well-being is on the way ... but it’s not going to involve private ownership. Now you tell me in what vision of your own life ... involves prosperity where you don’t own your own house, where you don’t own your own car, where you don’t own your own clothing,” interview at Star Tribune Minnesota State Fair booth, 2024.
“Remember this speech. If I win and I go to D.C. and I spend the first four months filibustering the rise of the debt ceiling and they shoot me, I told you. Don’t let them say I suicided myself” — June 20, 2024, Rochester Post Bulletin report.