Berg failed because Heitkamp simply out did him with a bombardment of slick mail cards, well produced, which well...did not always tell the whole truth, imho. Of course, taking things out of perspective is what Democrats do. The East side of the State (Two of three 'major' cities--dripping with oil envy--but not a drop of oil) bought into the hoopla about 'slowing down the oil boom' and some of the anti-fracking hype. They have traditionally been more liberal than the western part of the state, and have over 1/3 of the population. Grand Forks and Fargo rely heavily on University money, and Fargo is easily the most liberal town in the State (so bad I think we should give them to Minnesota) with screed after screed coming out of the
Fargo Forum against the oil patch, especially after Williams County passed Fargo in taxable sales for a number of quarters in a row, taking some of the wind out of Fargo's legislative sails.
How do you think we had such a string of Dems in DC?
Berg got outvoted by only 3000 votes--close enough to ask for a recount.
Berg also was simply a weak candidate who lucked out by catching a wave in 2010 with John Hoeven at the top of the ticket. Had he run for reelection to the House, he probably would’ve won easily. Ultimately, we should’ve run Kevin Cramer instead. I expect Rep. Cramer will be the nominee against Heitkamp in ‘18 (since Gov. Dalrymple will be 70 by then, too old to start a Senate career). Shocking to realize that that particular Senate seat hasn’t elected a Republican since the maverick Wild Bill Langer in 1958.