Abstract
While predominantly a red state, North Dakota had a long history of supporting Republicans for statewide offices and presidential elections and electing Democrats to the US House and Senate. Elected to the Senate by a slim margin in 2012, Heidi Heitkamp was defending a seat that had been held by Democrats since 1960. She was challenged by Kevin Cramer, a three-term representative for North Dakota’s lone congressional district. Cramer initially decided not to run for the seat only to be called by President Trump, who encouraged him to do it for the country. Cramer’s victory likely marks the return of one-party rule in North Dakota.
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Notes
- 1.
The author acknowledges the assistance of two graduate students: Spencer Halvorson and Sasilak Suriwong. Sincere thanks to both for their efforts gathering research and assembling data. Any errors remain the responsibility of the author.
- 2.
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- 3.
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See Elwyn B. Robinson, History of North Dakota (Open Educational Resources, 2017), https://commons.und.edu/oers/1
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Pedeliski and Smith.
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See US Census Bureau, Quick Facts, 2017, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/nd
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See US Census Bureau, 2017 Census of Governments – Organization, https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/econ/gus/2017-governments.html
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Pedeliski and Smith, 43.
- 11.
Pedeliski and Smith, 41.
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- 21.
Lisa Hagen, “Former GOP Candidate Says Cramer Running in ND Senate Race,” The Hill, February 13, 2018, https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/373641-former-gop-candidate-says-cramer-running-in-nd-senate-race
- 22.
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- 23.
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- 24.
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- 25.
Simone Pathé, “Personality and Party Clash as Senate’s Most Vulnerable Democrat Fights to Survive,” Roll Call, August 23, 2018, https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/personality-party-clash-senates-vulnerable-democrat-fights-survive
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- 27.
See Jeremy Dillon, “North Dakota Senate Race Could Come Down to Fossil Fuels,” Roll Call, September 21, 2018, https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/north-dakota-senate-race-could-come-down-fossil-fuels
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- 29.
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- 30.
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- 31.
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- 32.
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- 34.
Data compiled from multiple sources on www.gallup.com: https://news.gallup.com/poll/226643/2017-party-affiliation-state.aspx; https://news.gallup.com/poll/203117/gop-maintains-edge-state-party-affiliation-2016.aspx; https://news.gallup.com/poll/188969/red-states-outnumber-blue-first-time-gallup-tracking.aspx; https://news.gallup.com/poll/181475/massachusetts-maryland-democratic-states.aspx; https://news.gallup.com/poll/167030/not-states-lean-democratic-2013.aspx; https://news.gallup.com/poll/160175/blue-states-outnumber-red-states.aspx; https://news.gallup.com/poll/152438/states-move-gop-2011.aspx; https://news.gallup.com/poll/146234/number-solidly-democratic-states-cut-half.aspx; https://news.gallup.com/poll/122003/political-party-affiliation-states-blue-red-far.aspx; https://news.gallup.com/poll/114016/state-states-political-party-affiliation.aspx
- 35.
David Weigel, “What We Learned from All the 2018 Results: The Winners, Losers, Flippers, Voters and Spenders,” Washington Post: The Trailer, December 9, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/paloma/the-trailer/2018/12/09/the-trailer-what-we-learned-from-all-the-2018-results-the-winners-losers-flippers-voters-and-spenders/5c0ae53a1b326b67caba2b49/?utm_term=.1751f1891f1c
- 36.
Maggie Severns, “Heitkamp Raised $12 Million in 17 Days After Opposing Kavanaugh,” Politico, October 25, 2018, https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/25/north-dakota-senate-2018-heitkamp-donations-942154
- 37.
CNN, “North Dakota Senate Election Results 2018,” https://www.cnn.com/election/2018/results/north-dakota
- 38.
See Virginia Gray, 1–27. See also James Arkin, “How to Win in North Dakota,” Politico, Nov. 1, 2018, https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/11/01/north-dakota-2018-senate-election-heitkamp-cramer-222094
- 39.
Catie Edmondson, “Heidi Heitkamp Ousted by Republican Kevin Cramer from North Dakota Senate Seat,” New York Times, November 6, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/06/us/politics/heidi-heitkamp-kevin-cramer-north-dakota.html
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Harsell, D.M. (2020). North Dakota Senate Race: A Right Turn. In: Foreman, S., Godwin, M., Wilson, W. (eds) The Roads to Congress 2018. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19819-0_12
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