Republicans in North Dakota are defending Rep. Kevin Cramer on trade as the party’s Senate nominee comes under fire from Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp amid an escalating confrontation with China initiated by President Trump.
The state Republican Party on Wednesday unveiled a new digital advertisement promoting Cramer’s work on federal farm legislation and accusing Heitkamp of using North Dakota farmers to score political points on trade to save herself in the midterm elections. Heitkamp blames Cramer for Trump’s trade policies, which threaten farmers with severe hardship as Beijing retaliates for U.S. tariffs on Chinese exports by halting orders for North Dakota soybeans and other commodities.
“Heidi Heitkamp is trying to win re-election by using farmers as political props to attack President Trump and Kevin Cramer,” state GOP communications director Jake Wilkins said in a statement. “While she claims to care about agriculture, Heitkamp has made it clear she only cares about herself. Kevin Cramer has worked tirelessly to be a strong voice for the agricultural community, and he’s the right choice for North Dakota’s farmers this November.”
Heitkamp and Cramer are embroiled in a heated Senate race in a state that has become ground zero for Trump’s trade policies. North Dakota exports $2 billion annually in soybeans, mostly to China, plus hundreds of millions more in farm equipment and other commodities. The president is using steep tariffs on foreign imports to extract more favorable trading terms from China and other U.S. economic partners.
Chinese orders for the next soybean crop, to be harvested just prior to Election Day, could dry up if there isn’t an easing of tension between Beijing and Washington. That appeared less likely this week as Trump slapped additional tariffs on China, a move immediately followed by retaliatory levies. Heitkamp is attempting to capitalize, introducing a new television ad that features a North Dakota soybean farmer that accuses Cramer with indifference to negative impact Trump’s trade war could have on farmers.
To counter, the North Dakota Republican Party is out with a digital spot charging that Heitkamp was absent when it was time to negotiate the farm bill, important legislation to states with major agriculture industries.
“North Dakota’s entire Congressional delegation was appointed to work on the Farm Bill, and Kevin Cramer called it like it is: a big victory for North Dakota!” a voiceover says, as the ad opens. “He even brought leaders from Washington back to North Dakota to hear directly from our producers. But Heidi Heitkamp? She had different ideas.”
“Heitkamp called this win for our farmers ‘politics at its worst’ because she thought it’d hurt her re-election campaign,” the voiceover continues, in the spot. Heidi wants us to think she cares about agriculture, but now it’s clear she only cares about herself. It’s time we tell Heidi Heitkamp to stop playing politics with our farmers.”
The North Dakota Senate contest offers a key test of how much leeway voters might give Trump to negotiate on trade. Cramer is considered a slight favorite in a state that voted for Trump overwhelmingly in 2016 and has remained supportive since. Heitkamp is clearly betting that goodwill for Trump only goes so far.
