North Dakota is a right-to-work state.
The oil patch isn’t unionized in any way, shape or form, never has been.
The left-wing candidate won because she’s been around state politics forever, her brother has a statewide radio show, she ran AGAINST Obama on many issues and as a pro-oil, pro-gun, pro-farmer, pro-family candidate in constant, warm, flag-tinged ads from beginning to end.
The Republican candidate wasn’t as smooth as she was and sounded mostly like a griper against Washington, while she campaigned as a champion for small-town (and big university) North Dakotans.
Furthermore North Dakota is still heavily Scandinavian and by history and by practice is still given to a kind of limited collectivism, the idea that you give your neighbor a helping hand carried to community and state level.
Finally North Dakotans (farmers, older people, Indians and university types) are famous for sending bacon-bagging Dems to Washington while electing staunch conservatives and penny-pinchers closer to home.
Thanks for the in-depth analysis. For my part, I think I’d prefer the good people of North Dakota swapping their habits; I’d far rather they start sending the CONSERVATIVES to Washington D.C. and keep the liberal tendencies of their Democrats all to themselves although — being here in CA — I know how hard that can be. Our rural and suburban Conservative and moderate Republican votes just get overwhelmed by the libtard votes from our big metro regions.
Thanks, again, for the ‘splainin’.