Decision leaves activists in tizzy

BISMARCK — Besides depriving North Dakotans of a headline-making U.S. Senate campaign, Democrat Byron Dorgan’s decision to leave office has thrown activists in both parties into a tizzy.

Will Republican Gov. John Hoeven end his circumspection and get into the Senate race? Will former Democratic Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp attempt a political comeback? Does Republican Kevin Cramer want to run against Democratic Rep. Earl Pomeroy a third time?

Dorgan’s decision has drawn national attention because of its potential for weakening the Democrats’ majority in the Senate, where 60 votes are needed to cut off filibusters. In North Dakota, it shifts Democrats’ focus from recruiting candidates for five Republican-held state offices to finding a presence for the top of the party’s ticket.

Mark Schneider, North Dakota’s Democratic chairman, called Heitkamp “an obvious name in most people’s minds” as a successor to Dorgan. Hoeven defeated Heitkamp in his first race for governor in 2000. She did not respond Wednesday to telephone and e-mail messages requesting comment.

“This does create an opportunity. The political balls are moving now,” Schneider said. “A number of excellent, qualified candidates will be stepping forth, and we will be competitive. No doubt about that.”

Pomeroy, who was mentioned as a possible Dorgan successor after the senator said he would not run again, said Wednesday he will seek his 10th House term instead.

Keeping his assignments on the Agriculture and Ways and Means committees — Ways and Means has jurisdiction over tax and trade legislation — is more important than seeking a Senate seat, Pomeroy said.

Cramer, a state public service commissioner who is up for re-election this year, said Wednesday he was rethinking his earlier decision to forgo his third House race against Pomeroy. Cramer lost twice to the incumbent Democrat in the 1990s.

The other Republican incumbents — Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, Secretary of State Al Jaeger, Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring and Tax Commissioner Cory Fong — said they were not interested in jockeying for a Washington position.

Hoeven, after months of shrugging off questions about a possible Senate candidacy, said Wednesday he was considering the race “very seriously, and we’ll have an announcement out very soon. Certainly within the next couple weeks.”

In a Fargo appearance to tout the economic benefits of state “centers of excellence” grants to North Dakota’s public colleges, Hoeven rolled out a possible Senate campaign theme, one he has had practice delivering during three races for governor.

“I think there is a real desire in the country to really get back to ... that job creation that we’re working so hard on here in North Dakota,” Hoeven said.

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