Amy Klobuchar’s Win Lauded as ‘Historic’ By Minnesota Paper, Until History Was Repeated Hours Later By a Republican

As the primary season continues to grind along, with it comes all of the expected hype and excitement over the results and accomplishments. But this being the news complex we are dealing with, not all of those accomplishments are touted the same way. Amy Klobuchar is a testament to this.

As we have come to learn, not all historical achievements are created equal…even when achieved at the very same time.

In Minnesota they held their party primaries Tuesday night. One of the notable offices vied for is the governorship, as Tim Walz will be term-limited, and he will find plenty of time to learn how to load his Beretta. As the results came the local paper, the Minnesota Star-Tribune, was laser-quick to announce Amy Klobuchar the winner in the Democratic Party race.

Not a surprise, as her incumbency was sure to carry enough weight to breeze to a win, but the framing of her victory is what is notable. As the news syndicates were delivering early returns, the Star-Tribune announced things thusly: “Klobuchar Wins Primary, Becomes First Woman To Lead Major Ticket for Minnesota Governor.”

Accurate, technically, if we are grading news of this nature with a stopwatch. The paper has since altered that headline, as election night delivered more results, and history, it can be said, was repeated. Quite literally, as the GOP ended up nominating a POC female for governor, as Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth upset Mike Lindell for the nomination.

The local Minnesota paper was eager to herald Klobuchar as historically the “first woman”, but had to modulate things when the GOP managed to elect a POC woman the same night, for the same office. pic.twitter.com/GyuRhG3hSV

— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) August 12, 2026

Apart from the nod in the subheader, there is not nearly the level of energy in covering Demuth’s historical significance. In fact, most of the focus was on her defeating Lindell and how he was the Trump-backed candidate in that race.

This follows a trend seen in the press to tout the historic significance of Democrats when they achieve milestone election results, as the GOP equivalents are given muted coverage at best. For many Dems, that occupancy of “historic first” in a category can become a label permanently affixed for their career and media appearances.

For Republicans, not so much. Take the case of Marsha Blackburn, the Senator from Tennessee. How often have we heard her described as the first woman to represent her state in that chamber? Not too frequently. And last week, when she secured the nomination for the gubernatorial race, there was little in the way of media confetti delivered for becoming the state’s first female candidate for that office.

This imbalanced focus on the historical record was supremely highlighted in the last general election. In the Virginia election, won by Abigail Spanberger in 2024, the winner being a woman was often loudly featured, but what was downplayed was a simple fact: the gender of the office was already assured.

Spanberger was a media fixture, and on (then)MSNBC, her travails on the campaign trail were covered enthusiastically. On Morning Joe, Jonathan Lemire and Mika Brzezinski were wringing hands over the electability of female candidates and what they have to face.

Morning Joe: The reason Abigail Spanberger is struggling is because Americans are sexist; “other countries have no problem electing women” pic.twitter.com/3CmMLhQKKD

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 22, 2025

Lemire ruminated over the “misogynistic trap” Democrats were facing. Mika bitterly mentioned how “Other countries have no problem electing women.” What went unmentioned in all of their female concern? That Spangerger was running against a POC female on the Republican ticket, Winsome Earl-Sears.

And there you find another example of the disinterest in particular female historical accomplishments. Earl-Sears was rarely ever mentioned for blazing trails as the first black female elected as Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor, and that was largely because it might elevate her stature during the campaign.

After all, highlighting that a female, let alone a woman of color, had been elected by the racist and sexist Republican Party, would run contrary to the preferred narratives. As a result, somehow only Abigail Spanberger faced misogyny, in her “historic” run to the governor’s mansion.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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