Klobuchar Hopes For “Grace Period” Before Campaign

ANOKA (AP) -- Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar says she hopes for a "grace period" before the 2012 campaign begins, with no declared opponents and $1.6 million in the bank.

Klobuchar told The Associated Press in an interview Friday that she isn't worrying about next year's campaign.

GOP Chairman Tony Sutton says he expects the field to firm up in two to three months.

Republicans including former Sen. Norm Coleman and former state Rep. Laura Brod say they're not running. Sutton says he doesn't expect Rep. Michele Bachmann to run, either.

Klobuchar won 58 percent of the vote in 2006, beating Republican Mark Kennedy by 20 points in one of the strongest Democratic showings statewide in recent decades.

Klobuchar says she had $1.6 million in the bank at the end of 2010.

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