Race of the Day- North Dakota U.S. Senate

64 Days Until Election Day

Status: Republican Incumbent
2012 Presidential Result: Red State (Midwest)

Outlook: Safe Republican

This year, the GOP has a lot of concerns about races in various states that they need to win, in order to hang on to their majority in the U.S. Senate. North Dakota is not one of those races. The state is heavily Republican, although not totally adverse to sending Democrats to Washington, and freshman Senator John Hoeven is all but certain to cruise to a second term.

Six years ago, Hoeven, then the very popular Governor of the state, captured an open seat with over three quarters of the vote. He sits on several committees, such as Agriculture, Resources, and Indian Affairs which are important to his state. His voting record is fairly conservative and it is hard to remember that Hoeven was nominally a Democrat before his first run for office, in which he was elected Governor of North Dakota in 2000.

Running against the incumbent is a tall task and Democrats have nominated Eliot Glassheim, a 78 year old native of New York City. He briefly served in the North Dakota House of Representatives in 1975, and then again in 1993 until the present day. Glassheim is running on a liberal platform and gives liberals in his state an option, but the candidate who has reportedly survived lung cancer and a mild stroke in recent years, should not expect to beat the odds against Hoeven.

Hoeven campaign link:

http://www.hoevenforsenate.com/

Senate races predicted thus far:
7 D (5 Safe, 1 Likely, 1 Leans)
17 R (5 Safe, 5 Likely, 4 Leans, 3 Tossup)

Overall predicted thus far: 43 D, 47 R