Tom Campbell, a Republican state senator in North Dakota, has announced that he’ll try to steal the U.S. Senate seat in 2018 from Heidi Heitkamp — the state’s sole Democrat in Congress. Heitkamp, who was considered for a possible role in President Trump’s cabinet, was both the first senator and the first Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee to endorse Sonny Perdue to lead the USDA.
Heitkamp, who was elected by just 2,936 votes in 2012, is considered one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats. President Trump took North Dakota by almost 36 points last November, according to Roll Call.
“There is much riding on Heitkamp’s political prospects, which are central to Senate Democrats’ plans to ultimately retake the chamber by 2020 — few think any other Democrat could hold the seat,” said Politico in an article titled “North Dakota’s Last Democrat?”