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ND-Sen: Kevin Cramer wins Senate seat from Heitkamp, giving the GOP another pickup
U.S. President Donald Trump (left) looks on as U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) speaks to supporters during a campaign rally at Scheels Arena on June 27 in Fargo, North Dakota. Cramer won a U.S. Senate seat that had previously been held by Democrat Sen. Heidi Heitkamp. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

ND-Sen: Kevin Cramer wins Senate seat from Heitkamp, giving the GOP another pickup

Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) has won his bid for one of North Dakota’s U.S. Senate seats, defeating incumbent Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.).  

What are the details? 

Cramer managed to win 58.8 percent of the vote, compared to Heitkamp's 41.2 percent, when the race was called with 63 percent of precincts reporting.

Heitkamp was running for her second term, having first been elected in 2012.  

Heitkamp was considered to be one of the most endangered Democratic incumbent senators this year. She came out strongly against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination, after a poll from early October showed Cramer with a 10-point lead over Heitkamp. Cramer seemed to have kept that lead, and the RealClearPolitics average still put him up by 9 percentage points. 

In an interview with “60 Minutes,” Heitkamp admitted that voting to confirm Kavanaugh would have been a “politically expedient vote,” but argued that she had refused to do so on principal. “Do I wanna compromise my principles and my conscience for that job? No. And do I wanna compromise the Supreme Court for that job? No.”

Cramer supported Trump early in the president's own campaign, but broke with him when it came to immigration.

“But I think a legal immigration system that is generous in volume but discretionary in its scrutiny — by that I mean of course, skillsets and education, merit-based system. I think a generous merit-based system makes sense for our economy,” he told the Washington Examiner in August.

What else?

Heitkamp outspent and outraised Cramer by a significant amount, but to no avail. As of Oct. 17, the Federal Election Commission reported that she had raised more than $26 million and spent more than $16 million. For contrast, Cramer raised only $4.9 million for his Senate campaign and spent slightly more than $5 million.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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