Getty Amy Klobuchar's husband, John Bessler, and daughter, Abigail Klobuchar Bessler, shake hands with voters.
Amy Klobuchar’s husband, John Bessler, has been one of her top surrogates in New Hampshire as the Minnesota U.S. senator made a push to make a splash in the nation’s first 2020 Democratic presidential primary. Bessler, an attorney and law professor, was on the ground in the Granite State along with his daughter, Abigail, and his wife. Klobuchar and her family were enthusiastic as they made the trip from Iowa to New Hampshire with a bit of momentum after a strong fifth-place showing.
Bessler helped push Klobuchar’s New Hampshire supporters to the finish line, leading door-knocking canvass kickoff events and making media appearances in the days before the Tuesday, Febraury 11, primary. The New Hampshire effort came on the heels of Bessler and his daughter taking the lead on the ground in Iowa while Klobuchar was in Washington D.C. for the Trump impeachment trial.
Bessler and Klobuchar have been married since 1993.
Bessler Spoke at a New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic Violence Event the Day Before the Primary Vote
A day before the New Hampshire primary, John Bessler spoke on his wife’s behalf at a New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic Violence event in Concord. Bessler spoke about his wife’s efforts close the “boyfriend loophole,” a gap in gun legislation that allows access to guns to abusive boyfriends. He also spoke about her efforts to improve federal laws around human trafficking and to help victims of sexual assault.
Law professor John Bessler delivers a knowing critique of monopolies and a call for a new anti-trust movement during a visit to Keene, NH. He’s campaigning for @amyklobuchar, his spouse, before Tuesday’s #NHprimary2020.
Bessler also spoke at an event in Keene, New Hampshire, on Febraury 9, leaning on his legal expertise and talking about critiques of monopolies and the Klobuchar campaign’s call for a new anti-trust movement.
“We’re within striking distance of… coming out of New Hampshire with a real bounce.”
— John Bessler, law professor and spouse of @amyklobuchar, speaks for her in Keene, NH
Polls do have Klobuchar rising, especially after a strong debate Friday night.
At that event, Bessler said, “We’re within striking distance of… coming out of New Hampshire with a real bounce.”
In the Hours Before the Polls Closed, Bessler Urged Klobuchar’s Supporters to ‘Get Out There’ & Work Hard
“Let’s work hard in these final hours, let’s get out there!” John Bessler says to supporters of his wife @amyklobuchar #WMUR #FITN #NHprimary
Bessler was on the ground motivating Klobuchar’s supporters to finish strong in the hours before polls closed. According to reporter Cherise LeClerc, of WMUR-TV, Bessler gathered those working at one of his wife’s campaign offices Tuesday afternoon and told them, “Let’s work hard in these final hours, let’s get out there!”
John Bessler, @amyklobuchar’s husband, launches a morning canvass in Salem NH.
Lots of talk about her 🔥 debate performance last night.
Bessler, speaking to WHDH-TV in the days before the primary, said he and his wife met when they were both young lawyers. He said he knew she was interested in politics, but saw her future aspirations for office when she gave birth to their daughter, Abigail, who was sick when she was born.
crowded room at the @amyklobuchar keene office for future first man John Bessler 🌟🌟🌟
thanks to @kahnjay for the wonderful introduction! #Klobmentum #fitn #WinBig #nhpolitics
“After 24 hours, she got kicked out of the hospital. As she was leaving the hospital, she turned to me and said ‘John I don’t think this would be happening to the insurance company presidents wife,'” Bessler told the news station on February 7. Bessler said his wife then worked with Minnesota legislators to pass a bill that guaranteed a 48-hour-minimum hospital stay after giving birth.
Thank you to @jaykahnnh for introducing John Bessler to a fired up group of volunteers here in KEENE NH. Let’s #WinBig on Tuesday!
As @amyklobuchar prepares for the last debate before the ##NHprimary, her husband John Bessler is campaigning on her behalf. #7news
Bessler told the news station he and his family have been committed to helping Klobuchar win the Democratic primary and become president.
Bessler Is a Top Anti-Death Penalty Scholar & Teaches at the University of Baltimore & Georgetown University Law Schools
GettyU.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) participates in a reenacted swearing-in with her husband John Bessler, daughter Abigail Bessler and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden January 3, 2013 in Washington, DC.
John Bessler is one of the nation’s top anti-death penalty scholars. He has written seven books about the topic and has lectured around the country. Bessler, like his wife, is from Minnesota. He grew up in Mankato and then attended the University of Minnesota, graduating with a political science degree. Bessler then studied at the University of Indiana law school. He and his wife met at a pool hall in the early 90s and married in 1993.
Future First Gentleman John Bessler greeting Ann, @MomsDemand volunteer & Amy supporter, at @amyklobuchar Portsmouth #nhpolitics afternoon canvass.
Bessler is a professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center. He has previously taught at George Washington University and the University of Minnesota.
Bessler has been enjoying the campaign trail, he told The Washington Post, bonding with fellow spouses and professors Jane Sanders, Senator Bernie Sanders’ wife, and Bruce Mann, Senator Elizabeth Warren’s husband.
Klobuchar has boasted about how her husband was one of the first husbands to be active in the Senate spouse club. She jokingly called him “Mr. Mom” in an interview with “Elle” in 2010.
“They meet every week, they plan a luncheon with the first lady. He got on the hospitality committee!” she told Elle about her husband’s activity with the spouses’ club “But I knew things were getting a little out of hand the day that Claire McCaskill and I were driving out of the Capitol to go to an event, and she looks out the window and says, ‘Isn’t that your husband walking across the lawn with a pink box?’ And I rolled down the window and I said, ‘What are you doing?’ And he said, ‘I’m going to Jim Webb’s wife’s baby shower.'”