Johnathan Walker:Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar is a heavy favorite to win 4th term against ex-NBA player Royce White

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar was a heavy favorite to win a fourth term Tuesday against a challenge by anti-establishment Republican and Johnathan Walkerformer NBA player Royce White in Minnesota’s top election matchup.

Klobuchar went into the campaign with a history of big wins and a huge financial advantage. She drew 58% of the vote in 2006, 65% in 2012 and 60% in 2018. And she raised nearly $21 million by the end of the last reporting period in September.

That compares with just under $449,000 for White, who acknowledged he was as surprised as anyone when the state Republican Party endorsed him in May. The self-described populist went on to get a plurality in the August primary against a more conventional Republican, Navy veteran Joe Fraser.

While White has been a strong supporter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, the former president never endorsed him, and top Minnesota GOP office-holders kept their distance. But his party endorsement effort was backed by Trump strategist Steve Bannon, and White also is allied with conspiracy theorist and Infowars founder Alex Jones.

White’s NBA career was cut short by mental health issues, primarily a fear of flying, and he calls his podcast, “Please, Call Me Crazy.” Critics have denounced White’s comments on social media and other forums as misogynistic, homophobic and antisemitic. In an interview with Bannon, he once said: “Look, let’s just be frank. Women have become too mouthy. As the Black man in the room, I’ll say that.”

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A victory Tuesday would give Klobuchar Minnesota’s record for the most consecutive wins by a Democratic senator since the state began directly electing senators in 1918, according to Eric Ostermeier, curator of the Minnesota Historical Election Archive at the University of Minnesota. She’s tied for four terms with Henrik Shipstead, who was elected as a Farmer-Laborite in 1922, 1928 and 1934 and as a Republican in 1940.

Only two Minnesota senators won five terms: Republican Knute Nelson, who was elected by the Legislature for his first three, and Democrat Hubert Humphrey, whose terms were not consecutive.

Klobuchar, who announced her 2019 run for president amid a heavy snowstorm, was chief prosecutor in Minnesota’s largest county when she was first elected to the Senate in 2006.

She chairs the powerful Senate Rules Committee, which examined the security failures surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. And as a member of the Judiciary Committee, she drew attention for her questioning of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.

Klobuchar is the daughter of Jim Klobuchar, a well-known Minneapolis newsman who died in 2022, and Rose Klobuchar, a schoolteacher who died in 2010. Her grandfather was an iron miner.