The 2012 United States Senate election in North Dakota took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the

2012 U.S. presidential election The 2012 United States presidential election was the 57th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Biden, were re-el ...

, other United States Senate

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

, United States House of Representatives

, and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic-NPL Senator

Kent Conrad Gaylord Kent Conrad (born March 12, 1948) is a former American politician who was a United States Senator from North Dakota. He is a member of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party, the North Dakota affiliate of the Democratic Party. First electe ...

decided to retire instead of running for reelection to a fifth term. Though each party endorses a single candidate in state conventions in the spring, ballot access for the general election was determined in a

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

held on June 12, 2012.

Heidi Heitkamp Mary Kathryn "Heidi" Heitkamp ( ; born October 30, 1955) is an American politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from North Dakota from 2013 to 2019. A member of the North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party, ...

, a Democratic-NPL former

North Dakota Attorney General The North Dakota Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the North Dakota state government. The Attorney General's office represents the state government in court cases and issues opinions of points of law upon request. Drew Wrigley was app ...

, won the open seat over Republican

Rick Berg Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...

, North Dakota's at-large U.S. Representative, by a margin of 0.9%. Heitkamp outperformed President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

by 20.5%, the latter having lost North Dakota by 19.6% in the concurrent presidential election. Heitkamp's very narrow winning margin made it the closest race of the 2012 United States Senate elections. , this was the last time a Democrat was elected to Congress or won a statewide election in North Dakota.

Democratic-NPL primary

The North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party held their state convention March 16–18, 2012, in

Grand Forks Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...

. Former state attorney general and 2000 Democratic gubernatorial nominee

was uncontested in seeking the official party nomination and was the only member of the party elected to appear on the state primary ballot.

Candidates

Declared

, former attorney general of North Dakota and nominee for

Governor of North Dakota The governor of North Dakota is the head of government of North Dakota and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The Constitution of North Dakota specifies that "the executive power is vested in the governor" in Secti ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Withdrew

* Thomas Potter, Presbyterian pastor and former professor of finance at UND (dropped out February 2012)

Declined

, incumbent U.S. Senator * Pam Gulleson, former state representative and former chief of staff and former state director for former senator

Byron Dorgan Byron Leslie Dorgan (born May 14, 1942) is an American author, businessman and former politician who served as a United States Representative (1981–1992) and United States Senator (1992–2011) from North Dakota. He is member of the Democratic ...

Kristin Hedger Kristin Ruth Hedger is a North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party politician and businesswoman. Hedger was the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party's candidate for North Dakota Secretary of State The North Dakota Secretary of State is an elected office in ...

, nominee for

North Dakota Secretary of State The North Dakota Secretary of State is an elected office in the U.S. state of North Dakota. The incumbent was Alvin A. Jaeger. Duties of the Secretary of State include being the custodian of the state's Great Seal and other official state docume ...

in 2006 * Joel Heitkamp, brother of Heidi Heitkamp, radio personality and former state senator * Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union and former

North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner In the U.S. state of North Dakota, the Agriculture Commissioner, formerly known as the Commissioner, is an elected official who heads the North Dakota Department of Agriculture. The present commissioner is Doug Goehring, a Republican. The office ...

* Tim Mathern, state senator and nominee for governor in 2008 *

Earl Pomeroy Earl Ralph Pomeroy III (born September 2, 1952) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1993 to 2011. He is a member of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party. He currently serves as Senior Counsel for ...

, former U.S. Representative * Tracy Potter, state senator and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2010 *

Tim Purdon Timothy Q. Purdon is a lawyer who served as the 18th United States Attorney for the District of North Dakota from 2010 to 2015. He is now a partner at Robins Kaplan LLP. Education Born in Oakes, ND in 1968, Purdon moved to Ashby, MN with his ...

, U.S. Attorney * Jasper Schneider,

USDA rural development USDA Rural Development (RD) is a mission area within the United States Department of Agriculture which runs programs intended to improve the economy and quality of life in rural parts of the United States. Rural Development has a loan portfolio o ...

State Director *

Mac Schneider McLain Joseph Schneider (born March 27, 1979) is an American attorney and politician who has served as the United States attorney for the District of North Dakota since December 2022. He previously represented the 42nd district in the North Dak ...

, state senator * Ryan Taylor, Minority Leader of the

North Dakota Senate The North Dakota Senate is the upper house of the North Dakota Legislative Assembly, smaller than the North Dakota House of Representatives. Per the state constitution, North Dakota is divided into between 40 and 54 legislative districts appor ...

Republican primary

North Dakota Republicans endorsed U.S. Representative

at their convention, though general election ballot access is determined by a statewide primary election held on June 12, 2012. In contrast to state political tradition, declared candidate Duane Sand did not seek the party endorsement, trying instead to defeat Berg on the June primary ballot.

Candidates

Declared

, U.S. Representative * Duane Sand, former North and South Dakota Director for

Americans for Prosperity Americans for Prosperity (AFP), founded in 2004, is a libertarian conservative political advocacy group in the United States funded by Charles Koch and formerly his brother David. As the Koch brothers' primary political advocacy group, it is one ...

and nominee for ND-AL in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Declined

* Al Carlson, North Dakota state house majority leader *

Tony Clark Anthony Christopher Clark (born June 15, 1972) is an American professional baseball player and executive. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1995 to 2009 and is the sixth executive director of the Major League Baseball P ...

, state public service commissioner *

Kevin Cramer Kevin John Cramer (born January 21, 1961) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator for North Dakota since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he represented North Dakota's at-large congressional district ...

, state public service commissioner *

Jack Dalrymple John Stewart Dalrymple III (born October 16, 1948) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 32nd Governor of North Dakota from 2010 to 2016. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th Lieutenant Govern ...

, North Dakota governor and 1992 Republican nominee for U.S. Senate *

Cory Fong Cory Fong (born August 6, 1972, Great Falls, Montana) is a North Dakota public servant. He is a Republican, and the former state State Tax Commissioner. Fong was appointed Tax Commissioner in 2005 by Governor John Hoeven following the resignat ...

, state tax commissioner * Shane Goettle, U.S. Senator

John Hoeven John Henry Hoeven III ( ; born March 13, 1957) is an American banker and politician serving as the senior U.S. senator from North Dakota, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Hoeven served as the 31st governor of No ...

's state director * Tony Grindberg, state senator * Bob Harms, North Dakota Republican Party treasurer *

Brian Kalk Brian Kalk (born c. 1966) is a North Dakota Republican Party politician in the U.S. state of North Dakota. He served on the North Dakota Public Service Commission from 2009 to 2017. Early life Kalk was born and raised in Bottineau, North Dakota ...

, state public service commissioner (running for House) * Kim Koppelman, state representative *

Ed Schafer Edward Thomas Schafer (born August 8, 1946) is an American businessman and politician who was the 30th governor of North Dakota from 1992 to 2000. Schafer also served as the 29th United States Secretary of Agriculture from 2008 to 2009, appointed ...

, former U.S. agriculture secretary and former North Dakota governor *

Kelly Schmidt Kelly Schmidt (born August 26, 1962) is an American politician who served as the 33rd North Dakota treasurer from 2005 to 2021. She is the longest-serving treasurer in North Dakota's history and a member of the Republican Party Republican Party ...

, North Dakota treasurer *

Wayne Stenehjem Wayne Stenehjem ( ; February 5, 1953 – January 28, 2022) was an American lawyer and politician from the U.S. state of North Dakota. He was the Attorney General of the state, serving from December 15, 2000 until his death. He sought the Republi ...

, North Dakota attorney general * John Warford, mayor of Bismarck *

Drew Wrigley Drew Howard Wrigley (born October 10, 1965) is an American attorney, lawyer, and politician from North Dakota. Wrigley currently serves as the attorney general of North Dakota after being appointed to the position by Governor Doug Burgum followin ...

, North Dakota lieutenant governor

Endorsements

Polling

Results

General election

Candidates

(R), U.S. Representative *

(D), former attorney general of North Dakota and nominee for governor in

* Bill Kiefer (I), businessman

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 15, 2012 -

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

Complete video of debate
October 25, 2012 -

Fundraising

Top contributors

Top industries

Independent expenditures

In early October 2012,

Crossroads GPS American Crossroads is a US Super PAC that raises funds from donors to advocate for certain candidates of the Republican Party. It has pioneered many of the new methods of fundraising opened up by the Supreme Court's ruling in ''Citizens United ...

announced that it would launch a $16 million advertising buy in national races, of which four were this and three other Senate elections.

Predictions

Polling

Results

References

External links

North Dakota Secretary of State

Campaign contributions
at

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP). ...

Outside spending
at

Sunlight Foundation The Sunlight Foundation was an American 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocated for open government. The organization was founded in April 2006 with the goal of increasing transparency and accountability in the United States ...

Candidate issue positions
at On the Issues ;Official campaign websites (Archived)
Rick Berg for U.S. Senate

Heidi Heitkamp for U.S. Senate
{{North Dakota elections

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

Democratic-NPL primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrew

Declined

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Declined

Endorsements

Polling

Results

General election

Candidates

Debates

Fundraising

Top contributors

Top industries

Independent expenditures

Predictions

Polling

Results

See also

References

External links