The cavalry has arrived for Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.
Senate Majority PAC dropped more than $300,000 in television ads this month to bolster the vulnerable North Dakota Democrat, who faces a stiff challenge in the fall from Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer. It was among the group’s first major media buys since announcing plans to invest $80 million in the midterm elections.
“He camouflages it pretty well. But Kevin Cramer is attacking Heidi Heitkamp, and he’s got it wrong,” the voiceover in the SMP spot says as the television ad opens, after playing a clip in which the congressman says: “We all like Heidi.”
The ad continues: “Heidi Heitkamp voted for fiscally responsible tax cuts for the middle class, businesses, and farmers. Kevin Cramer’s vote increases the deficit by $1.9 trillion. And now Cramer says they’ll have to cut Social Security and Medicare to pay for it. That’s not looking out for North Dakota.”
That last part, about Cramer’s position on popular entitlement programs, got SMP into some hot water with one North Dakota television station. The local news at network affiliate Valley News Live aired fact-check segment on the ad, and rated it false.
“Valley News Live would have to rate the claim by Senate Majority PAC as inaccurate,” the news anchor said during the broadcast. “According to Politifact.com, Senate Majority PAC has a history of playing fast and loose with the truth.”
Senate Majority PAC has reserved airtime in nine states for after Labor Day. But the group plans to spend additional cash throughout the summer. The Democrats are two seats short of a Senate majority, but are defending 10 in states won by President Trump in 2016. In half of those contests, the Democrats are trying to hold on in red states that voted overwhelmingly for Trump.
The group’s initial reservations cover seven states where the Democrats are in trouble — Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, and West Virginia — and three where Republicans are on defense: Arizona, Nevada, and Tennessee.
Heitkamp is trying to position herself as a pragmatist willing to work with Trump. She opposed the president’s signature tax reform law but cooperated with him to push through legislation reforming the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul signed into law by then-President Barack Obama.
Cramer has been asking the White House for more support from Trump in the campaign, angry that the president, who recruited him to run in the first place, has lobbied the senator to support his priorities and openly praised her. This week, the congressman finally got a little of what he was looking for.
“We need Kevin in the Senate and I strongly endorse him,” Trump tweeted. “Heidi voted no on our tax cuts, and always will vote no when we need her. Kevin is strong on crime and borders, big on cutting taxes.”
The message could go along way in North Dakota. Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in the state by a whopping 35.8 percentage points. On Friday, Trump announced he would hold a rally in Fargo on June 27.
While dissatisfaction with Trump broadly has created a challenging political environment for Republicans nationally, the president was above water in North Dakota in May, when polling from Morning Consult found his approval rating at 51 percent. However, Trump’s approval rating in Morning Consult surveys is down from where it stood in January (56 percent.)
