Democrat Heidi Heitkamp overcame the odds – and the pre-election polls – to win the election for the US Senate.
The margin was razor thin. She defeated Republican Congressman Rick Berg by less than one percentage point. Heitkamp took a “victory lap” around North Dakota Thursday – to thank her supporters.
Several hundred people welcomed Heitkamp to the labor temple in Bismarck, as the tired and hoarse US Senator-elect finished a four-stop victory tour. They chanted "Heidi, Heidi" as Heitkamp entered the room.
“I’ve been everywhere today, and I tell you – people have been excited," Heitkamp told the crowd. "And I’m going to try not to get too emotional here. I can just tell you – the candidate gets a lot of press and a lot of cameras. But we all know who won this. You all won this. You – every one of you who got on a phone bank, put up signs, wrote out checks, who believed and talked to your neighbors. This is what democracy should be.”
The final margin of victory was just under three thousand votes.
“That’s not a mandate<' said Heitkamp. "That doesn’t say we picked one side or the other. It said that we’re going to trust you. We’re going to give you our hopes and trust you.”
North Dakota’s other Senator – Republican John Hoeven – says he and Heitkamp have already talked about some of the issues.
"She mentioned she’s going to be working on health care, and asked me to work with her on health care, which I said I would<" said Hoeven. "And I asked her for help on energy, and she said she’d work with me. So we’re already talking to each other about how to get things done.”
Hoeven says he believes the voters want the two parties to work together.
“That’s what this is about," said Hoeven. "We’ve had the election. And now it’s about doing the work for the people of this great state and this great country."
Heitkamp will now be one of 20 women in the US Senate.
“It’s the first time we have elected a woman to federal office<" said Renee Pfennig of Bismarck, who has been working with a group to elect more women to statewide office. " So that’s really, really exciting. And Heidi will be an excellent member of the United States senate to get this country back on track.”
“She worked really hard, appealed to everybody," said Bruce Hagen of Bismarck, who served in the North Dakota Public Service Commission for 34 years. " She’s independent – she’s a Democratic Non-Partisan Leaguer, but she’s independent – and I think North Dakota wants and respects that.”
Heitkamp says she’s talked with her opponent, Rick Berg, twice. And she says he was very gracious. And she had a message for those who attended the Bismarck rally.
“My pledge to all of you is that I will go to bed at night, thinking about your kids, thinking about your grandmas and your grandpas, thinking about your jobs and what we can do to improve those opportunities," Heitkamp told the rally. "And I will wake up every morning, and I will take those thoughts, and I’m going to go to work for North Dakota. And you made that possible. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
