BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Republicans once again had their way in North Dakota, punctuated by Kevin Cramer’s victory over Heidi Heitkamp in a highly charged U.S. Senate race and Kelly Armstrong’s quieter but convincing win to fill Cramer’s U.S. House seat.

Local Election Wrap Up from Wayne Byers Show

It didn’t end there. The GOP — along with Republican-turned-independent Secretary of State Al Jaeger — once again swept the state offices and saw a noncitizen voting measure pass after it was put on the ballot in part to counter turnout for an initiative to legalize marijuana.

And the pot measure went down, just two years after voters said yes to medicinal marijuana.

The Democrats were clinging to a couple of bright spots heading into Thursday. A government ethics measure that the Democrats have tried to pass in various forms was leading and Republican House Majority Al Carlson was in third place in the race for two south Fargo spots as the final votes were tallied.

 

U.S. SENATE

Both the winner and loser in one of North Dakota’s most expensive political battles used similar expressions to summarize their political exploits.

Cramer says the victory was the “honor” of his life. Heitkamp says serving in the Senate was the “highest honor” of her life.

Cramer won by persuading North Dakota voters that his emphatic conservatism would serve them better than her occasional independence from her own party. Heitkamp portrayed herself as an independent who wasn’t afraid to vote against her own party or vote with President Donald Trump.

Heitkamp raised more than $27 million for her re-election campaign. That was almost five times as much as Cramer, who called it a “bunch of money to push a bad message.”

Although the so-called “anti-corruption” measure is sponsored by a bipartisan group, it’s something Democrats have fought unsuccessfully for years to do.

Backers say the measure will add transparency and accountability to government. They raised more than $400,000 to push it, with much of the money coming from left-leaning out-of-state groups.

Opponents argued the state has no ethics problem. In the Republican-led Legislature, leaders said the measure isn’t needed because lawmakers already follow high standards of conduct. The American Civil Liberties Union opposed the measure, saying it restricts political speech and advocacy.

Jolene Vidal, 43, Bismarck, who works for the state Department of Transportation, voted in favor of the measure because she wants to know where “campaign funding is coming from.”

 

Voters passed a proposal to amend the North Dakota Constitution to explicitly bar non-U.S. citizens from voting. The document already defines a voter as a U.S. citizen, but supporters argue the wording is ambiguous and needs to be clarified.

Gary Emineth, a former state Republican Party chairman, acknowledged that one goal of his proposal was to attract conservative voters to balance liberal voters that might be drawn to the marijuana issue.

Darren Schaefer, 45, who works unloading trucks in Bismarck, voted in favor of the proposal, noting: “I can’t go up to Canada and vote in their elections.”

 

Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature, and that wasn’t likely to change Tuesday, even with a possible change at the top. Carlson was third behind Republican Michelle Strinden and Democrat Pamela Anderson in District 41.

Republicans to win re-election to state offices were Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring. Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger and Public Service Commission members Randy Christmann and Brian Kroshus.