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Incumbent Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp is running for reelection. Born and raised in North Dakota, Heidi grew up in the small, rural town of Mantador. Through her time in office she helped to write and pass a strong Farm Bill, protect access to quality health care for seniors, veterans and rural residents, and strengthen her state’s energy industry. She was also North Dakota’s former Attorney General, and the state’s former Tax Commissioner. Through her leadership on the Senate small business and regulatory affairs committees, Heidi has taken on many regulations facing small business owners in the state by fighting back against damaging Washington one-size-fits-all regulations. Heitkamp has been described as a moderate Democrat. She is considered a centrist and often supports bipartisan legislation. The National Journal has given her a composite rating of 53% liberal and 47% conservative.Heidi currently lives in Mandan with her husband, Dr. Darwin Lange. They have two grown children, Ali and Nathan.

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Population estimates, July 1, 2017 | 755,393

Race and Hispanic Origin

White alone | 87.5%

Black or African American alone | 3.1%

American Indian and Alaska Native alone | 5.5%

Asian alone | 1.6%

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone | 0.1%

Two or More Races | 2.2%

Hispanic or Latino, percent | 3.7%

Age and Sex

Persons under 5 years | 7.2%

Persons under 18 years | 23.3%

Persons 65 years and over | 15.0%

Female persons | 48.7%

Education

High school graduate or higher, percent of persons age 25 years+, 2012-2016 | 92.0%

Bachelor's degree or higher, percent of persons age 25 years+, 2012-2016 | 28.2%

Health

With a disability, under age 65 years, percent, 2012-2016 | 7.1%

Persons without health insurance, under age 65 years, percent | 8.8%

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2014 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS

November 4, 2014

STATEWIDE TURNOUT

46.81%

Voter Turnout | 255,128

Eligible Voters | 545,020

PRECINCTS REPORTED

100%

Precincts Reported | 427
Total Precincts | 427

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North Dakota does not require voters to register prior to Election Day. You may simply bring acceptable proof of ID and residency to the polls in order to vote. Each precinct is responsible for governing its own election process, and the Secretary of State has a "central voter file" in which all county auditors share their precinct's voter list.

In order to vote in North Dakota, you must be:

At least 18 years old on or before Election Day.

A North Dakota resident.

A resident of your voter precinct for at least 30 days prior to the election.

When you arrive at the polls on Election Day, you'll need to show proof of birth date and residency. This can include:

A North Dakota driver's license or ID card.

An ID issued by a tribal government.

A form of identification issued by the Secretary of State.

A combination of the options above.

If you are in the military and stationed outside of North Dakota, a dependent of military personnel, a U.S. citizen who lives overseas, or will be out of state  you can complete an absentee ballot application online or by mail.
To complete the application online, simply log onto the North Dakota Secretary of State (SOS) website.

You will need to enter:

Your name.

Your ND address.

Your mailing address.

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The challenger to incumbent Heidi Heitkamp is Kevin Cramer. Cramer a republican, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 6, 2012. He serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Rep. Cramer is assigned to three subcommittees: Communications and Technology, Energy, and Environment. In November 2016, Cramer was elevated to the influential House Republican Steering Committee as the Small State Representative. He is co-chairman of the House Rural Broadband Caucus which develops policy solutions addressing rural America’s digital divide. He also serves as co-chairman of the Northern Border Caucus, which fosters continued growth in the relationship between the United States and Canada and is a founding Chair of the Congressional Kids’ Safety Caucus. He is North Dakota’s only member of the House of Representatives. Cramer has had a distinguished career in public service. In 1991, he was elected Chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party, making him the youngest member of the Republican National Committee. From 1993 to 2000, he served in Governor Ed Schafer’s cabinet, first as State Tourism Director from 1993 to 1997, then as State Economic Development & Finance Director from 1997 to 2000. From 2000 to 2003, he was Executive Director of the Harold Schafer Leadership Foundation. In 2003, then-Governor John Hoeven appointed Cramer to the Public Service Commission, and in 2004 he was elected to the position, gaining more than 65 percent of the vote.  He was re-elected in 2010 with 61.5 percent of the vote in a three-person contest. As North Dakota Public Service Commissioner, Cramer helped to oversee the most dynamic economy in the nation. He worked to ensure North Dakotans enjoy some of the lowest utility rates in the nation, enhancing their competitive position in the global marketplace. Cramer has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, a master’s degree in Management from the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, and was conferred the degree of Doctor of Leadership, honoris causa, by the University of Mary on May 4, 2013. Overall Cramer appears to be strongly Conservative with his stance in most public issues.

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Public Opinion Polls On Favorability of the candidate to win

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Public Opinion Polls On Favorability of the candidate to win

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Liberal Group
Center Forward | SuperPAC | $124,996
Demand Justice | 501c | $93,221
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte | PAC | $2,050,782
End Citizens United | PAC | $35,000
Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund | 501c | $861
Majority Forward | 501c | $1,102,666
Majority Forward | 501c | $77,969
MomsRising Together | 501c | $1,192
Montana Native Vote | 501c | $113,600
Moveon.org | Carey | $9,340
People for the American Way | 501c | $30,924
Priorities USA Action | Carey | $833,364
Senate Majority PAC | SuperPAC | $3,867,922
Together We Thrive | SuperPAC | $735
Working America | 501c | $700
Conservative Group
America First Action | SuperPAC | $567,943
America First Policies | 501c | $183,278
American Freedom & Opportunity PAC | SuperPAC | $5,000
CatholicVote.org | SuperPAC | $380
CatholicVote.org | 501c | $11,800
CONSERVATIVE TRUST OF AMERICA | SuperPAC | $1,903
Ending Spending Action Fund | SuperPAC | $415,004
Faith Family Freedom Fund | SuperPAC | $200
Family Policy Alliance | 501c | $33,860
Freedom's Defense Fund | PAC | $59,093
Future In America II | SuperPAC | $23,500
National Assn for Gun Rights | PAC | $22,143
National Assn of Home Builders | 501c | $164,401
National Horizon | SuperPAC | $5,000
National Republican Senatorial Cmte | PAC | $2,930,552
National Rifle Assn | PAC | $3,044
National Right to Life | PAC | $2,490
Republican Jewish Coalition | 501c | $866,384
Republican Party of North Dakota | PAC | $703,615
Restoration PAC | SuperPAC | $15,000
Senate Leadership Fund | SuperPAC | $3,123,105
Stars & Stripes Forever PAC | SuperPAC | $5,203
Susan B Anthony List | PAC | $21,402
Susan B Anthony List | 501c | $114,729
Women Speak Out PAC | SuperPAC | $33,464
Mixed Viewpoint
American Chemistry Council | 501c | $153,300

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OFFICIAL 2016 PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS

June 14, 2016

STATEWIDE TURNOUT

24.51%

Voter Turnout | 139,957
Eligible Voters | 570,955

PRECINCTS REPORTED

100%

Precincts Reported | *432
Total Precincts | 432

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Heidi Heitkamp

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Vote Smart provides free, unbiased, in-depth information about current officials, candidates, issues, legislation, and voting. Non-partisan and nonprofit since 1988.

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Kevin Cramer

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Vote Smart provides free, unbiased, in-depth information about current officials, candidates, issues, legislation, and voting. Non-partisan and nonprofit since 1988.

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Endorsements play an important role in political races. They signal a candidate's level of support among party leaders, and can make donors open their checkbooks. Endorsements from unions and other powerful groups can also help drive voter turnout.

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Abortion

Cramer opposes abortion. He is a critic of Planned Parenthood and has called for cutting off public funding of the group. (In line)

When running for Senate in 2012, Heitkamp said she opposed public funding of abortions and believed that "late term abortions should be illegal except when necessary to save the life of the mother." (Not in line)

Health care

Cramer opposes the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and has voted to repeal it without a replacement five times. He has voted against health insurance protections for patients with pre-existing conditions and against the expansion of Medicaid. (In line)

Heitkamp has said that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act contains "good and bad" elements and that "it needs to be fixed." She criticized her Senate opponent Rick Berg for wanting to repeal the law, citing concerns about insurance companies denying coverage to children with preexisting conditions. (In line)

Supreme Court

In 2018, Cramer said that both Anita Hill's sexual harassment allegations against Clarence Thomas and Christine Blasey Ford's sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh were "absurd". (In line)

In October 2018, Heitkamp voted against confirming Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, amid allegations that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted women. (In line)

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I believe Kevin Cramer is favorable to win the 2018 North Dakota Senate race.

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Since 1900, North Dakota voted Democratic 17.24 percent of the time and Republican 82.76 percent of the time. Since 1968, the state has always voted Republican. Along with the history of being a republican leaning state an overwhelming amount of public opinion polls have Cramer in the lead by a relatively small margin of error. This evidence can be seen below and in the column preceding this one labeled 'Politics of the Race'.

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However, Heidi Heitkamp is still not to be completely disregarded as she has won before on the democratic platform. Thus, she is an incumbent and incumbents win reelection roughly 87.6% of the time.

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Kvly. “Poll: Cramer Widens Gap over Heitkamp in US Senate Race to 16 Points.” KVLY - Content - News, www.valleynewslive.com/content/news/Poll-Cramer-widens-gap-over-Heitkamp-in-senate-race-to-16-points-498224261.html.

Rubin, Jennifer, and Washington Post. “In Several Close Senate Races, Voter Turnout Will Make the Difference.” HeraldCourier.com, 4 Nov. 2018, www.heraldcourier.com/opinion/in-several-close-senate-races-voter-turnout-will-make-the/article_cc6de4c4-1411-5a11-9ef4-fe270be54f86.html.

Bauroth, Nicholas. “Race for the Senate 2018: Key Issues in North Dakota.” Brookings, Brookings, 2 Nov. 2018, www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2018/11/02/race-for-the-senate-2018-key-issues-in-north-dakota/.

Staff, Newsy. “Midterm Matchup: 'What The Fact' Checks North Dakota Senate Race.” WPTV, 29 Sept. 2018, www.wptv.com/newsy/midterm-matchup-what-the-fact-checks-north-dakota-senate-race.

“North Dakota 2018 Senate Election Polls.” North Dakota 2018 Senate Polls, www.270towin.com/2018-senate-polls/north-dakota/.

Arkin, James, et al. “Senate Polls: GOP Leads in North Dakota, 4 Other Races Close.” POLITICO, 3 Oct. 2018, www.politico.com/story/2018/10/03/senate-midterms-polls-829127.

DataDhrumil. “North Dakota U.S. Senate Polls.” FiveThirtyEight, 2 Nov. 2018, projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/senate/north-dakota/.

NateSilver538. “North Dakota - 2018 Senate Forecast.” FiveThirtyEight, 3 Nov. 2018, projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2018-midterm-election-forecast/senate/north-dakota/.

“Religion in America: U.S. Religious Data, Demographics and Statistics.” Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project, 11 May 2015, www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/state/north-dakota/.

“Polls.” RealClearPolitics - Election 2018 - North Dakota Senate - Cramer vs. Heitkamp, www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2018/senate/nd/north_dakota_senate_cramer_vs_heitkamp-6485.html.

“U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: North Dakota.” Census Bureau QuickFacts, www.census.gov/quickfacts/nd.

“Preparing Export...” North Dakota Secretary of State, results.sos.nd.gov/Default.aspx?map=Cty&eid=126.

“Voter Registration in North Dakota.” DMV.ORG, www.dmv.org/nd-north-dakota/voter-registration.php.

“North Dakota Population 2018.” North Dakota Population 2018 (Demographics, Maps, Graphs), worldpopulationreview.com/states/north-dakota-population/.

“Enter Search Criteria.” Election Results Portal, vip.sos.nd.gov/PortalListDetails.aspx?ptlhPKID=62&ptlPKID=4.

“Content Display Issues.” North Dakota Presidential Election Voting History, www.270towin.com/states/North_Dakota.

“The Power of Senate Incumbency.” The Washington Post, WP Company, www.washingtonpost.com/apps/g/page/politics/the-power-of-senate-incumbency/1051/.

Peterson, Kristina. “Heitkamp Takes a Familiar Role in North Dakota Senate Race: Underdog.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 1 Nov. 2018, www.wsj.com/articles/heitkamp-takes-a-familiar-role-in-north-dakota-senate-race-underdog-1541071800.

Pindell, James. “Here's Your Ultimate Cheat Sheet of House and Senate Races to Watch on Election Night - The Boston Globe.” BostonGlobe.com, 3 Nov. 2018, www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/11/03/here-your-ultimate-cheat-sheet-house-and-senate-races-watch-election-night/Ox3D9MfEnvQVJjqrYQfzJK/story.html.

DeSanctis, Alexandra. “Cramer Expands Lead over Democratic Senator Heitkamp in North Dakota Race.” National Review, National Review, 22 Oct. 2018, www.nationalreview.com/corner/kevin-cramer-expands-lead-over-democratic-senator-heitkamp-in-north-dakota-race/.

“North Dakota Democrat's Chances Look Slim - CNN Video.” CNN, Cable News Network, 31 Oct. 2018, www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/10/31/senate-midterms-north-dakota-heidi-heitkamp-kevin-cramer-chalian-orig-js.cnn.

“Heidi Only Answers to You.” Heidi Heitkamp for U.S. Senate, heidifornorthdakota.com/heidi-only-answers-to-you/.

“Heidi Heitkamp: 'Denise' | Campaign 2018.” The Washington Post, WP Company, www.washingtonpost.com/video/editorial/campaign-ads-2018/heidi-heitkamp-denise--campaign-2018/2018/08/17/8f925924-a24c-11e8-a3dd-2a1991f075d5_video.html?utm_term=.f5b5e184e4e7.

“Contribute.” Kevin Cramer for U.S. Senate, www.kevincramer.org/contribute/?gclid=CjwKCAjwsfreBRB9EiwAikSUHa6TNXrsDhDWpv8jtwx0fSq2zdgtBp6cIQR-bOpZFTHqBw5RS7hyGRoCd_cQAvD_BwE.

“Republican National Committee.” GOP, gop.com/.

“The Democrats.” Democrats, democrats.org/.

“Secretary of State |.” Secretary of State |, sos.nd.gov/.

“North Dakota Senate 2018 Race.” OpenSecrets, www.opensecrets.org/races/summary?cycle=2018&id=NDS2.

“North Dakota Senate Race.” OpenSecrets, www.opensecrets.org/races/industries?cycle=2018&id=NDS2&spec=N.

“Kevin Cramer Jobs Ad.” Vimeo, 4 Nov. 2018, vimeo.com/292598309.

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Heidi Heitkamp (D) | Raised $27,017,315 | Spent $16,019,959

Kevin Cramer (R) | Raised $5,531,588 | Spent $4,951,051