Klobuchar’s VP odds drop amid scrutiny over Minnesota cop, betting odds show
Senator Amy Klobuchar’s odds to be the Democratic vice presidential pick had dipped overnight as scrutiny has turned to her record as a prosecutor, according to online bookmaker.
Klobuchar’s odds of becoming Joe Biden’s running mate have dipped from 7/2 on Thursday to 7/1 on Friday, according to a press release by US-Bookies.com. The 7/1 odds means that out of 8 possible outcomes, odds are there will be 7 of one outcome and 1 of another. In this case, that means bookmakers think she has a 12.5 percent chance of getting the nod.
“A lot of recent criticism has been directed at Klobuchar for her time as a Hennepin County prosecutor, when she apparently declined to prosecute officer Derek Chauvin for an incident in 2006,” US-Bookies betting industry analyst Alex Donohue said in a statement. “Many are suggesting this is a reason Joe Biden should not name Klobuchar his running mate, and the odds certainly indicate that her chances of being selected have taken a hit.”
Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer who on Friday was charged with murder in the recent death of George Floyd, was involved in the October 2006 shooting of a man who had stabbed people and turned on officers, the New York Times reported.
Klobuchar did not play a role in the 2006 case against Chauvin, the county attorney’s office told the New York Times.
“Senator Klobuchar’s last day in the office here was December 31, 2006, and she had no involvement in the prosecution of this case at all,” Lacey Severins, a spokeswoman for the Hennepin County prosecutor’s office, told the Times.
However, during her seven-year tenure as prosecutor of Hennepin County, Klobuchar didn’t bring charges against police officers involved in shootings and send the cases to a grand jury, the Times reported.
In the Floyd case, Chauvin was arrested Friday and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter, prosecutors said.
Klobuchar has condemned Floyd’s death and called for an “outside investigation.”
“There must be a complete and thorough outside investigation into what occurred, and those involved in this incident must be held accountable,” Klobuchar tweeted on Tuesday. “Justice must be served for this man and his family, justice must be served for our community, and justice must be served for our country.”
Her statement was met with some backlash.
“When I said that Senator Klobuchar should in no way be a VP pick, I’m talking about a person that could write a statement about the police murder of George Floyd without saying POLICE MURDER or GEORGE FLOYD,” Aimee Allison, founder of political group She the People, replied on Twitter.
An Associated Press report raised questions about the conviction of Myron Burrell, 17 at the time, in the fatal shootingof an 11-year-old girl in 2002 in Minneapolis when Klobuchar was prosecutor, The Star Tribune reported. Klobuchar’s last Minnesota rally of her presidential campaign was shut down by activists protesting the conviction, according to the outlet.
“We need to close the enthusiasm gap that Biden currently faces. We need to have a VP pick that expands the capacity of the campaign to reach these key audiences. Black women are key. Brown women are key. And Klobuchar does not do that,” said Aimee Allison, president of political group She the People and organizer of the first presidential forum focused on women of color.
Sen. Kamala Harris is still favored to be the nominee, with her odds improving from 6/4 to 6/5 on Friday, according to the bookmaker’s new release. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s odds also improved from 13/2 to 5/1.
Betting site 888sports also has Harris as the favorite to win as of May 25, according to Bookies.com. Harris is at +130 and Klobuchar is at +400. That means if you bet $100 on Harris, you’d win $230 and if you bet $100 on Klobuchar, you’d win $500.
