Heidi Heitkamp

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Heidi Heitkamp (2013)

Mary Kathryn "Heidi" Heitkamp (born October 30, 1955 in Breckenridge , Minnesota ) is an American politician of the Democratic Party . From 1993 to 2000, the lawyer held the office of Attorney General in the state of North Dakota . From 2013 to 2019, she was the successor to Kent Conrads and represented her state in the United States Senate and left the Senate after her defeat in the 2018 election.

Family, education and work

Heidi Heitkamp is the daughter of Ray and Doreen Heitkamp, ​​a construction worker and school caretaker and a cook. The fourth of seven siblings, she grew up in the small town of Mantador in southeast North Dakota.

After completing her school education, Heitkamp attended the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks from 1973 , where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1977 . She worked alongside her studies and did political internships, in 1976 in Washington, DC and in 1977 in Bismarck , the capital of North Dakota. This was followed in 1980 by the Juris Doctor from the Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland . From 1980 to 1981 she worked as a lawyer for the Environmental Protection Agency . In 1981 she moved back to Bismarck, where she worked for the Tax Commissioner of North Dakota Kent Conrad .

Heitkamp is married to Darwin Lange, who practices as a general practitioner in Mandan , where she lives . You have two children.

Political career

Electoral offices in North Dakota

Heitkamp lost her first candidacy for political office in 1984 with 46 percent of the vote when she was defeated by Republican incumbent Robert W. Peterson for the post of North Dakota State Auditor .

When Tax Commissioner Kent Conrad resigned in 1986 to run for the US Senate, Heitkamp was appointed as his successor on December 2, 1986. She won the subsequent election for his successor in November 1988 with 66 percent of the vote. The Tax Commissioner is part of the top administration of North Dakota and has been an electoral office since 1940. Heitkamp remained in this post until 1992 when she was elected to succeed Nicholas Spaeth as Attorney General of her state. In 1996 it was confirmed by the voters. During her eight-year tenure, she paid particular attention to the activities of tobacco manufacturers and, among other things, limited their advertising opportunities. Together with the Attorneys General of several other states, she sued companies in the tobacco industry, which were fined $ 336 million in favor of North Dakota.

In 2000, Heidi Heitkamp applied for the office of governor of North Dakota. On the Republican side, incumbent Ed Schafer declined to run again. John Hoeven , CEO of the Bank of North Dakota , was nominated in his place . Heitkamp, ​​who was diagnosed with breast cancer during the election campaign , lost to her opponent with 45 to 55 percent of the vote.

After losing his election and leaving the office of Attorney General , Heitkamp was a member of the Board of Directors of the Dakota Gasification Company , which produces gas and synthetic fuels from coal, from 2001 to 2012 .

Candidates for the US Senate

After a short period of reflection, she decided not to run for the successor to US Senator Byron Dorgan in the 2010 election ; she would have met again on John Hoeven, who clearly won the election against the Democrat Tracy Potter .

In November 2011, she announced her intention to run to succeed the non-re-running US Senator Kent Conrad. The nominees also included former Congressman Earl Pomeroy and her own brother Joel Heitkamp , a radio host who had previously served on the North Dakota Senate . All other potential applicants ultimately waived, so that a pre - election within the party became obsolete. Heitkamp prevailed on November 6, 2012 with 50.2 to 49.3 percent of the vote against Republican Congressman Rick Berg , who had a lead in most polls. Her victory in the increasingly conservative expectant North Dakota - in the same time as the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney with 20 percent lead over Barack Obama won - is attributed to their personal popularity and their promise to commit to bipartisan problem solving. She had defied President Obama during the election campaign, particularly on energy issues.

US Senator from 2013

Heitkamp took up her mandate on January 3, 2013. She joined the committees for agriculture and Indian affairs, following the tradition of her democratic predecessors Konrad and Dorgan, whose advice she frequently used.

In mid-2015, she was featured in the media as a candidate for her state's governorship, which was elected in November 2016 . Heitkamp, ​​whose candidacy would have made the race in the Republican-dominated state completely open, was seen as an important pillar of the Democrats in the US Senate to regain a majority in the 2018 election ; she announced in September 2015 that she would not run for the gubernatorial election. Heitkamp is seen as a representative of the political center and has been courted several times by the Republicans and Donald Trump , for example to provide non-partisan support for the tax reform adopted in 2017. During the presidential transition , President-elect Trump invited them to Trump Tower ; there was speculation that he might offer her a position in the Trump cabinet . Heitkamp later stated that Trump had asked her to join the Republicans.

In the 2018 Senate election , she was challenged by the state's sole representative in the House of Representatives , Republican Kevin Cramer ; For a long time, observers assumed that the election was completely open. Surprisingly, Heitkamp received campaign support from the Americans for Prosperity lobby group , which is close to the conservative Koch brothers , because they had campaigned for the partial repeal of the bank-regulating Dodd – Frank Act . In July, the Koch brothers announced that they would not provide any campaign support for Cramer. In October 2018, Heitkamp was clearly behind Kramer in several polls and was considered the most vulnerable Democratic Senator to be elected. Although the majority of North Dakota's voters supported the nomination of the conservative judge Brett Kavanaugh, proposed by Donald Trump, for the United States Supreme Court , they voted against him. Kramer's lead in the polls increased further, but Heitkamp managed to raise over $ 12.4 million in donations and attract 3,000 new volunteers in the first 17 days of October. Heitkamp lost to Kramer in the election with 44.6 to 55.4 percent of the vote and left the Senate on January 3, 2019.

According to the Senate

After leaving the Senate, Heitkamp became a visiting scholar at Harvard University , commentator at CNBC and a member of the board of the McCain Institute at Arizona State University , a non-partisan think tank headed by the widow of the namesake, Cindy McCain .

Positions

Heitkamp is considered a moderate to conservative democrat who sometimes votes against the party line. She rejected parts of the Obamacare healthcare reform when it was passed in 2010, while she rejects measures to regulate gun ownership. She initiated legislation to give small businesses better access to federal loans and advocates the concerns of Indians as one of their key constituencies. Your support for the Keystone XL pipeline, implemented in Donald Trump's presidency , against environmental concerns caused displeasure among the North Dakota Indians, as this pipeline runs through sacred areas of these Indians.

Web links

Commons : Heidi Heitkamp  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ For the entire section From 'cleanup girl' to senator: Heitkamp talks of working class roots, large family. ( Memento of April 8, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) In: The Dickinson Press , December 16, 2012; Gregory Lewis McNamee: Heidi Heitkamp. In: Encyclopedia Britannica , August 5, 2015.
  2. ↑ Heitkamp, ​​Heidi. In: Our Campaigns.
  3. ↑ From 'cleanup girl' to senator: Heitkamp talks of working class roots, large family. ( Memento of April 8, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) In: The Dickinson Press , December 16, 2012; Heitkamp, ​​Heidi. In: Our Campaigns.
  4. ↑ Ourcampaigns.com .
  5. ^ Gregory Lewis McNamee: Heidi Heitkamp. In: Encyclopedia Britannica , August 5, 2015.
  6. ^ David Catanese: Heitkamp passes on Senate campaign. In: Politico , March 3, 2010.
  7. ^ ND Democrat Heidi Heitkamp to run for the US Senate. In: Associated Press , Nov. 8, 2011.
  8. ↑ Heitkamp mounts campaign with brother supplying air support, though few see it tipping race. In: The Grand Forks Herald , September 30, 2012.
  9. ^ Rosaling S. Helderman, Sean Sullivan: Republican Rick Berg concedes to Democrat Heidi Heitkamp in the North Dakota Senate race. In: The Washington Post , Nov. 7, 2012; North Dakota Senate - Berg vs. Heitkamp. In: RealClearPolitics (English, poll aggregator).
  10. ↑ From 'cleanup girl' to senator: Heitkamp talks of working class roots, large family. ( Memento of April 8, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) In: The Dickinson Press , December 16, 2012.
  11. ↑ Kyle Kondik: Notes on the State of Politics. In: Sabato's Crystal Ball. University of Virginia Center of Politics, Aug. 27, 2015; Mike Nowatzki: Heitkamp Says She Won't Run for Governor in 2016. ( Memento from September 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) In: InForum.com , September 9, 2015.
  12. ^ Sean Sullivan: Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp: Trump 'asked me to switch parties'. In: The Washington Post , April 10, 2018.
  13. ↑ Erica Werner: Republican Kevin Cramer to run for Senate in North Dakota in boost for GOP. In: The Washington Post , February 15, 2018.
  14. ↑ Simone Pathé: Americans for Prosperity Thanks Heidi Heitkamp in Digital Ads. In: Roll Call , June 1, 2018.
  15. ↑ Jonathan Easley: Koch network won't back GOP Senate candidate in North Dakota. In: The Hill , July 30, 2018.
  16. ↑ Elena Schor: Heitkamp to vote 'no' on Kavanaugh. In: Politico , October 4, 2018.
  17. ↑ Justin Wise: Heitkamp raises more than $ 12 million in first 17 days of October. In: The Hill , October 25, 2018.
  18. ^ North Dakota US Senate Election Results. In: The New York Times , November 7, 2018.
  19. ^ Heitkamp joins think tank named after John McCain. In: InForum , January 28, 2019.
  20. ^ Gregory Lewis McNamee: Heidi Heitkamp. In: Encyclopedia Britannica , August 5, 2015; Ari Natter: Heitkamp Caught Between Constituencies in Pipeline Fight. In: BNA.com , September 20, 2016; Brian Naylor: Trump Gives Green Light To Keystone, Dakota Access Pipelines. In: National Public Radio , January 24, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME Heitkamp, ​​Heidi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Heitkamp, ​​Mary Kathryn (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician and lawyer
DATE OF BIRTH October 30, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Breckenridge , Minnesota