Senators Amy Klobuchar & Mitt Romney
Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Republican Senator Mitt Romney of Utah joined The Economic Club of Chicago on January 26 to discuss “Governing from the Middle” and how to heal our American democracy. The conversation was moderated by David Axelrod, political analyst and director of The University of Chicago Institute of Politics.
There was a moment on the night of January 6 where 93 senators voted the same.
Senator Amy Klobuchar on how compromise and bipartisan efforts are possible.
Amy Klobuchar
U.S. Senator/ Minnesota
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar is the first woman elected to represent the State of Minnesota in the United States Senate. Throughout her public service, Senator Klobuchar has always embraced the values she learned growing up in Minnesota. Her grandfather worked 1500 feet underground in the iron ore mines of Northern Minnesota. Her father, Jim, was a newspaperman, and her mother, Rose, was an elementary school teacher who continued teaching until she was 70.
Senator Klobuchar has built a reputation of putting partisanship aside to help strengthen the economy and support families, workers, and businesses. In 2019, an analysis by Vanderbilt University ranked her as the “most effective” Democratic senator in the 115th Congress.
Mitt Romney
U.S. Senator/ Utah
Senator Mitt Romney was sworn in as Utah’s newest senator on January 3, 2019. He currently
serves on the Foreign Relations; Health, Education, Labor & Pensions; Homeland Security &
Government Affairs; and Small Business & Entrepreneurship committees. He is chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism.
Senator Romney is also a member of the Senate National Security Working Group.
Before entering public service, he led a successful business career as the co-founder of Bain
Capital, a leading investment company, and the turnaround CEO of Bain & Company, an
international management consulting firm.
Prior to serving as the Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007, Senator Romney led the
2002 Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Winter Olympics and, with a team of volunteers
and managers, helped turn the struggling Games into a Utah success story. He was a candidate
for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination and Republican nominee for president in 2012.
Senator Romney earned his bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University and his JD/MBA
from Harvard University. He is the proud husband to Ann, father to five sons, and grandfather to
25 grandchildren.
David Axelrod
Founding Director/ University of Chicago Institute of Politics & Senior Political Commentator/ CNN
David Axelrod is a preeminent American political strategist and commentator and the former chief
strategist and senior advisor to President Barack Obama. Axelrod currently serves as the founding
director of the University of Chicago’s nonpartisan Institute of Politics and as a senior political
commentator for CNN. He is the host of The Axe Files, a top-rated podcast featuring in depth
conversations with public figures across the political spectrum. A former political writer for the
Chicago Tribune, Axelrod produced media strategy and advertising for 150 campaigns across the
U.S., culminating in President Obama’s historic elections. Axelrod is also the author of The New
York Times best-selling memoir, Believer: My Forty Years in Politics.
