Winning every county in North Dakota, Gov. John Hoeven (R) defeated Democratic candidate Tracy Potter by a 54 percentage point margin in the open race for Democrat Byron Dorgan’s former seat. Governor Hoeven has served as North Dakota’s governor since 2000. As governor, he issued a public statement in March denouncing the passage of Obama’s healthcare bill. He is endorsed by former governors Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.
This seat was one of the six Republican pickups in the Senate.
