If the election in North Dakota were held today, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp would lose to the generic Republican. Heitkamp barely won her 2012 election, clinching victory by less than 3,000 votes. Her state went heavily for Trump. She voted against the tax reform package that has created a better job creating and investing climate, prompting over 250 companies to dole out bonuses of at least $1,000 to over three million workers. In some cases, workers have received $3,000 bonuses. The Democrats have slammed these bonuses as crumbs, a bit of sour grapes for their universal opposition to a bill that cut taxes for America’s middle and working classes.
On top of that, she voted with Democrats to block a bill that would have banned abortion after 20 weeks. It’s a non-controversial measure that has popular support, but the shot of Heitkamp giving Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer a high five after the vote is being weaponized against her by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (via Free Beacon):
Heitkamp, who is up for reelection this year, was slammed by critics in early February for giving what appeared to be a high five to Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) after she voted against a bill that would have banned abortion after 20 weeks of conception. Senate Democrats were successful in blocking the bill from passing.
"After voting down a five-month abortion ban, they celebrated with a big high-five on the Senate floor. But that’s not the only time Heitkamp has fought to keep D.C. liberals happy," the ad narrator says.
The ad goes on to cite other examples of Heitkamp's loyalty to Democratic Party leadership, saying the North Dakota Democrat voted against tax cuts, refused to crack down on sanctuary cities, fought to keep Obamacare, and supported maintaining Obama administration rules on methane…
So, the message is simple: Heitkamp is too liberal for North Dakota. We’ll see how this ad does with voters in the state. Rob Port, a North Dakota-based blogger, noted that while his state is pro-life, such initiatives have not faired well recently.