Klobuchar and Demuth Clash on Fraud and Taxes

Amy Klobuchar and Lisa Demuth presented competing economic and government-oversight agendas at joint campaign events in Minnesota, while both pledged not to raise taxes if elected governor. Their exchanges put a state social-services fraud scandal at the center of the race and highlighted differences over how to prevent waste and reduce costs. At a Monday debate, Demuth, the Republican speaker of the Minnesota House, argued that the fraud showed failures in state oversight and said government had allowed waste to continue. Klobuchar, a Democratic U.S. senator, responded that she would have detected the fraud and said she contacted the Justice Department after it became public to seek investigative resources. She said that request led to additional federal prosecutors being assigned to the case. The candidates also disputed Klobuchar’s participation in Senate hearings about fraud. Demuth asked why Klobuchar had not attended a particular hearing; Klobuchar said she had raised fraud at other hearings and that the hearing in question was held by a subcommittee on which she did not serve. Their remarks record competing claims about responsibility and response, rather than an...