Rep. Kevin Cramer could run against North Dakota Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, after all — potentially reversing one of Republicans’ biggest recruiting misses of the 2018 midterm elections.
Cramer is “seriously considering” entering the race, according to a Republican with knowledge of the push to get Cramer to run.
Such a move would come after weeks of pressure from leading Republicans to reconsider his decision a month ago to forego a campaign against Heitkamp in what was expected to be one of the nation’s most vulnerable Democratic-held seats.
Cramer on Friday told the Bismarck Tribune that he is “mildly reconsidering” the Senate race, but that “not a lot has changed.”
“I want to be respectful of people who are asking me to reconsider,” he said then.
North Dakota Republican Sen. John Hoeven wouldn’t say Tuesday whether Cramer will run, but said he’s “been asked to reconsider it by a lot of people.”
Rumors that Cramer could change his mind and run for the Senate have circled for days, but accelerated Tuesday when a long-shot candidate — former state party chair Gary Emineth — announced he was dropping out because of Cramer’s “decision to enter the race.”
“I find myself unwilling to take on a popular incumbent who has done much to endear himself to his constituents,” Emineth wrote in an email to supporters that he linked from his Twitter profile. “Cramer’s accessibility and service on behalf of the people of North Dakota are exemplary.”
Cramer’s office and the National Republican Senatorial Committee did not respond to questions about whether Emineth’s comments about Cramer’s plans were accurate.
State Sen. Tom Campbell has also entered the Republican primary. But Cramer — as a statewide elected official — would bring a much higher profile to the race.