NORTH DAKOTA
      Nov. 6, 2012 Senate

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Heidi Heitkamp (D-NPL)
161,163
 50.23%
Rick Berg (R) 158,282
 49.33%
write-in
 1,406  0.44%

320,851
Eligible voters: 532,776.  Voter turnout: 325,564.
Plurality: 2,881 votes (0.90 percentage points).
 ND Secretary of State


Notes: U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad (D-NPL) announced on Jan. 18, 2011 that he would not seek re-election; he was first elected to the Senate in 1986.  Republicans had high hopes for a pick up, but former Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp (D-NPL) eked out a win over U.S. Rep. Rick Berg (R) even as Republicans carried all other statewide races.  At the top of the ticket Romney/Ryan defeated Obama/Biden by 188,163 (58.32%) to 124,827 (38.69%).

After an unsuccessful run for state auditor in 1984, Heitkamp was appointed, then elected as North Dakota State Tax Commissioner; she served from 1986 to 1992.  In 1992 she was elected attorney general and served two terms.  She ran for governor in 2000, losing to John Hoeven by 55% to 45%.  Heitkamp then served for over a decade as a director for the Dakota Gasification Company.  She announced her candidacy on Nov. 8, 2011, and was unopposed in the June 12 primary.
 
Berg was elected to Congress in 2010 defeating U.S. Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-NPL).  Previously he served 26 years in the ND House of Representatives, including six years as Majority Leader.  He worked in real estate management.  He announced his candidacy on May 16, 2011.  In the June 12, 2012 primary Berg defeated Duane Sand by 67,860 votes (66.41%) to 34,213 (33.48%).

Heitkamp and Berg debated three times:
Sept. 5 - at the North Dakota Broadcasters Association fall conference in Bismarck;
Oct. 15 - a half-hour debate hosted by Prairie Public Broadcasting at their studios in Fargo (>); and
Oct. 25 - organized by the League of Women Voters and co-sponsored by Dakota Media Access and the Bismarck Tribune at Horizon Middle School in Bismarck (>).

According to Open Secrets (>), the Berg campaign spent $6.3 million and the Heitkamp campaign $5.5 million.  Outside spending totalled $17.1 million; the top spenders were DSCC ($4.5 million) and Majority PAC ($3.3 million) on the Democratic side and NRSC ($3.3 million) and Crossroads GPS ($2.0 million) on the Republican side.



Campaign Managers:
Heidi Heitkamp:  Tessa Gould
(Feb. 2012)  Associate director of development for the Beacon School of Business, University of South Dakota, July 2011-Feb. 2012.  Chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, 2004-Jan. 2011.  ND state director, Iowa staff on Gephardt for President, 2002-04.  Deputy chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Earl Pomeroy, 1998-2002.  B.A in history, political science and English majors, 1996.  Jamestown, ND native.

-In 2013 the AAPC named Gould Campaign Manager of the Year for a Democrat.

Rick Berg:  Lonnie Dietz
(July 2012)  Chief of staff to Rep. Berg, Jan. 2011-July 2012; managed Berg's campaign for Congress, Apr.-Dec. 2010.  Campaign mnager on Van Taylor for Texas State House, Dec. 2009-Apr. 2010.  Campaign manager and spokesman on Rick Goddard for Congress (GA), Jan.-Nov. 2008.  Campaign manager and spokesperson on Paul Phillips for Congress (OH), Apr.-Dec. 2007.  Political director on Van Taylor for Congress (TX, Dec. 2005-Nov. 2006.  Field finance representative for the NRCC, May-Dec. 2004.  B.A. dual major in economics and government from Claremont McKenna College, 2005.


See also:
David Catanese.  "Heitkamp puts N.D. seat in play."  Politico, Oct. 7, 2012.

Alex Seitz-Wald.  "North Dakota Senate race: Rick Berg's shady real estate ties get shadier."  Salon, Sept. 25, 2012.

Iowa State University Archives of Women's Political Communication: Heidi Heitkamp.




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