Multiple SAB readers contacted me last night and this morning saying they’ve been getting polled on potential match ups in North Dakota’s 2018 Senate race. Incumbent Democrat Heidi Heitkamp announced that she’s running for re-election this morning, which is news to exactly nobody given the millions from out of state she’s already been stuffing in…
Border States Electric CEO Tammy Miller Considering Challenging Heitkamp for Senate Seat
North Dakota’s Senate race is heating up for Republicans. Congressman Kevin Cramer is considering a Senate run, and state Senator Tom Campbell of Grafton (who will be on my radio show this afternoon) is officially in the race and campaigning hard. Also considering Senate bids are state Rep. Rick Becker of Bismarck, former Congressman Rick…
North Dakota Republicans, Democrats Get Utterly Uninspiring Candidates for House and Senate Races Today
For those of us who enjoy horse race politics, today was an indication that the 2018 election cycle in North Dakota may be a dull one. For the Democrats, former state lawmaker Ben Hanson of West Fargo announced his intention to run for the U.S. House. The most pertinent part of his resume may be…
State Rep. Rick Becker Says Decision on Senate Run May Have to Wait Until September but Won’t Hinge on Cramer
We know that state Senator Tom Campbell of Grafton is considering a run for the NDGOP nomination to challenge Democratic U.S. Senate incumbent Heidi Heitkamp (who is absolutely running for re-election despite her silly posturing). We also know that both Kathy Neset, an oil industry consultant and member of the North Dakota State Board of…
Heitkamp Has Gone From the 61st Most Popular Senator to the 11th, Hoeven Approval Has Fallen
Back in April of 2016 North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp had a 50 percent approval rating, and a 35 percent disapproval rating, making her the 61st most popular member of the United States Senate according to polling by Morning Consult. But since Heitkamp pretty much launched her 2018 re-election bid in January, leaving her to campaign…
Audio: Lawmaker Says North Dakota’s University System Needs to Change or Go the Way of Blockbuster
Blockbuster Video was a corporate juggernaut. Until it wasn’t. The movie rental market got upended by a different approach. Everything from Netflix to Redbox to on-demand video rentals available through cable boxes or streaming services made trips to the video store, that staple of American life from another generation, obsolete. Could the same thing happen…
State Senator Tom Campbell Apparently Polling Ahead of Potential 2018 Run
State Senator Tom Campbell, a Republican from Grafton, has long made it clear that he’d like to move up the political ladder. He flirted with a gubernatorial run in 2016, though ultimately stayed out of the race. In December, when Congressman Kevin Cramer’s name was in the mix for an appointment in the Trump administration,…
Rep. Rick Becker, Interested in 2018 Senate Race, Skipped Last Day of Legislative Session for Meetings in Washington D.C.
North Dakota lawmakers wrapped up the last day of their 2017 session on Thursday last week. Missing from their ranks? State Rep. Rick Becker, a Republican from Bismarck’s District 7. Where was Becker? The capitol rumor mill placed him in Washington D.C. where he was attending meetings related to a potential 2018 Senate campaign. I…
Former Congressman Rick Berg Not Ruling Out 2018 Campaign
In 2010 Rick Berg, a long time Republican state lawmaker from Fargo, ran for Congress and defeated 10-term incumbent Earl Pomeroy ending a decades-long stranglehold Democrats had on North Dakota’s federal delegation. But in 2012 Berg opted to leave his House seat behind and run for the Senate seat which was being vacated at that…
Lawmaker: “There’s Absolutely Zero Chance We’ll Be Done on Tuesday”
The big question heading into this week of the legislative session is this: “When are they going to finish?” Today is legislative day 74. The goal, when the session started, is that the lawmakers would wrap up their businesses on day 70 last week leaving 10 of the constitutionally-capped 80 days in case they need…
