Amy Klobuchar’s daughter serving up tater tot hotdish on campaign trail in Colorado
The woman whose birth sparked Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar’s political career will be campaigning for the Minnesota senator in Colorado this week.
Abigail Bessler, Klobuchar’s 25-year-old daughter, will meet with voters, serve up hot dishes and attend a debate-watch party in five Front Range cities on Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 24 and 25, Klobuchar’s campaign said.
Bessler will be sharing the family recipe for Taconite Tater Tot Hot Dish, a version of the iconic potluck entree named after an iron ore mined in Minnesota. The no-longer-secret recipe includes ground beef, cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup, pepper jack cheese and, of course, tater tots.
In January, Klobuchar tweeted a link to a New York Times story about the decidedly Midwestern approach to campaigning, including this quote from her Iowa campaign chair: “Hot dish is a symbol of coming together, of a time when we weren’t so rude to each other… Caucuses are very much a neighborly coming together, so it’s the perfect thing.”
A reporter at online news site Mic tried out Klobuchar’s hotdish recipe last month and pronounced it “delicious.”
Klobuchar is one of eight major Democratic candidates on Colorado’s March 3 presidential primary ballot. She held a town hall in Aurora last week, hoping to build momentum after a stronger-than-expected third-place finish in the New Hampshire primary.
Klobuchar recounts in her stump speech how she was forced to leave the hospital within 24 hours after giving birth to her daughter, who was kept in intensive care because she was unable to swallow when she was born.
Enraged, Klobuchar, at the time a corporate lawyer, successfully lobbied Minnesota’s legislature to pass a law requiring hospitals to let new mothers and their babies stay in the hospital at least 48 hours after birth. It inspired then-President Bill Clinton to help pass a similar federal law in 1996, and Klobuchar went on to run for district attorney and is now serving her third term in the U.S. Senate.
Bessler, who works for the New York City Council and has been hitting the trail for her mom, is scheduled to campaign in Fort Collins, Boulder, Pueblo, Colorado Springs and Denver.
On Monday, she’s attending a happy hour at 5 p.m. at Snowbank Brewing, 225 N. Lemay Ave. No. 1, in Fort Collins.
At 7 p.m. she’ll be hosting a “Hotdish House Party” at a private home in Boulder. Supporters can RSVP here.
Tuesday’s schedule starts at 10:15 a.m. with a meet-and-greet at The Hanging Tree Cafe, 2019 S. Union Ave., in Pueblo.
Then it’s another “Hotdish House Party” at 12:30 p.m. at a private home in Colorado Springs. Hungry supporters can RSVP for that event here.
Bessler’s visit wraps up at a debate watch party at 5:30 p.m. at Blake Street Tavern, 2301 Blake St., in Denver’s Lower Downtown neighborhood.


