Klobuchar, Smith, Heitkamp make campaign stops in Glyndon, Moorhead

GLYNDON & MOORHEAD, Minn. — Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith and former North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp are working to get out the vote.

For them, taking a stroll through the Koester family farm in Glyndon, Minnesota is a reminder of what’s on the line this election.

“It remains that we need to help rural America, and we need to make sure that we’ve got policies in place that’ll do that,” says Klobuchar.

Amid the pandemic, they say policies like expanding broadband, building infrastructure and supporting rural health care through tele-health are more important now than ever.

“The pandemic is just an example of rank incompetence,” Heitkamp says. “It never had to be this bad, and it is this bad because people didn’t take it seriously.”

“We are seeing, of course, in this part of the country a big surge in COVID cases,” says Smith. “This is not something that we can just ignore.”

Smith is up for reelection this year and says regaining markets for Minnesota farmers is another one of the key issues she’s fighting for. She adds, “What farmers want is they want access to those markets, and they don’t want aid, they want trade.”

The senators also made their way to MSUM to meet with a younger generation of voters and Moorhead Mayor Johnathan Judd.

MSUM student Tobias Zikmund has already voted by mail and says more people his age are turning out. He explains, “We’re seeing no leadership on the national level on issues like climate and making college more affordable.”

No matter the issues most important to you, the message is clear: get your voice heard.

“I want everybody to go out and put a picture on their screensaver — we’re really close to Veteran’s Day — of the cemetery in Normandy, and understand they all died for your right to vote,” stressed Heitkamp. “Our Americans are there resting in peace and believe that they did that for our way of life and for our vote.”

The senators also stopped by Chisholm and ended their tour in Duluth.

Smith is running against Republic Jason Lewis.

Lewis served in Congress for one term before losing reelection in 2018.