Heitkamp, Heidi, 1955-

HEITKAMP, Mary Kathryn (Heidi), a Senator from North Dakota; born in Breckenridge, Minn., October 30, 1955; graduated University of North Dakota, B.A., 1977; graduated Lewis & Clark College, J.D., 1980; lawyer, Environmental Protection Agency 1980-1981; lawyer, Office of the North Dakota State Tax Commissioner 1981-1986; director, Dakota Gasification Company; tax commissioner of North Dakota 1986-1992; attorney general of North Dakota 1992-2000; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for governor of North Dakota in 2000; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 2012, and served from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2019; was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Senate in 2018.

<p>Mary Kathryn Heitkamp (/ˈhaɪtˌkæmp/ HYTE-kamp; born October 30, 1955) is an American businesswoman, lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from North Dakota from 2013 to 2019. A member of the North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party, she was the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from North Dakota. Heitkamp served as the 28th North Dakota attorney general from 1992 to 2000 and 20th North Dakota tax commissioner from 1986 to 1992. As of 2021, she is the last Democrat to hold statewide office in North Dakota.</p>

<p>Heitkamp ran for governor of North Dakota in 2000 and lost to Republican John Hoeven. She considered a bid for the Democratic nomination in the 2010 U.S. Senate election to replace the retiring Byron Dorgan, but on March 3, 2010, declined to run against Hoeven, who was ultimately elected.</p>

<p>In November 2011, Heitkamp declared her candidacy to replace the retiring Kent Conrad as U.S. senator from North Dakota in the 2012 election. She narrowly defeated Republican Congressman Rick Berg on November 6, 2012, in that year's closest Senate race. Heitkamp was North Dakota's second female senator, after Jocelyn Burdick, and the first woman to be elected to the Senate from the state. On November 6, 2018, Republican congressman Kevin Cramer defeated Heitkamp in her bid for reelection. After leaving the Senate, Heitkamp became a CNBC contributor and visiting fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics. In April 2019, with Senator Joe Donnelly of Indiana (who also lost reelection in 2018), she launched One Country Project, an organization aimed at helping Democrats reconnect with rural voters.</p>