New Ad: During Dakota Access Pipeline Protests, Heidi Did Nothing
The North Dakota Republican Party released a new ad today that “might be one of the most consequential television ads of the 2018 election cycle,” calling out Heidi Heitkamp for her failure to protect law enforcement and North Dakotans during the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) protests.
As these protests turned violent, radical out-of-state protestors terrorized law enforcement, setting fires and throwing explosives. Republicans like Kevin Cramer who “strongly supported the pipeline” stood with our law enforcement officers and the National Guard as they worked to end this violence, but Heidi Heitkamp did practically nothing to help. We shouldn’t be surprised. Heidi previously hosted a glitzy fundraiser for one of the protest’s leaders, Chase Iron Eyes, in her $1 million DC home.
“Heidi Heitkamp sat on the sidelines as violence escalated, property was destroyed, and the lives of North Dakota law enforcement officers were put in harms way,” said North Dakota Republican Party Communications Director Jake Wilkins. “Heitkamp claims she fights for her state, but when North Dakota needed her most, she was nowhere to be found.”
VO: Violent radicals terrorized our state during the DAPL protests, setting fires, hurling dangerous explosives.
VO: And Heidi Heitkamp? Did nothing.
Gov. Ricketts: They are trespassing on private properties, they’re burning cars, they’re throwing rocks and bottles at law enforcement officers.
VO: Heidi failed condemn the violence, failed to protect property rights, and failed to defend law enforcement.
VO: When we needed her most, Heidi Heitkamp did nothing.
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Good trade news for ND = Bad campaign news for Heidi
President Trump today announced a new trade deal has been reached to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. This trade deal is a win for our economy, as “the U.S. made very significant” victories.
But this news is a loss for Heidi Heitkamp, who has built her campaign on fanning the flames of farmers’ fears. As Rob Port notes in his story below, “It is undeniably bad news for Democrats trying to win elections this cycle. They needed Trump to fail. They needed chaos and uncertainty.”
Heitkamp has spent her campaign undermining the President every step of the way, but despite her efforts, President Trump has yet again succeeded. It’s clear that what is good for North Dakotans is bad for Heidi Heitkamp. In Case Your Missed It…
What Will Democrats Do if It Turns Out Trump Is Right on Trade?
10.1.18
Democrats, particularly “red state” candidates like incumbent Senator Heidi Heitkamp and U.S. House candidate Mac Schneider, have placed a big bet on trade this election cycle. Specifically, they’ve positioned themselves to benefit politically from any news about chaos or failure from the Trump administration’s efforts to negotiate better international trade agreements.
Thus the news this morning that Canada has joined the United States and Mexico in a reformed North American Free Trade Agreement, while welcome to most of us particularly here in North Dakota…
…it is undeniably bad news for Democrats trying to win elections this cycle.
They needed Trump to fail. They needed chaos and uncertainty. That tact has served them well in recent months, given President Trump’s iconoclastic and belligerent approach to negotiations, but it has also put them in the position of losing when Trump’s policies are successful. As they appear to have been in negotiations with Canada and Mexico.
Not only are we on the verge of improved trade relations with our North American neighbors, but pinning down a sort of NAFTA 2.0 gives our nation more clout in negotiations with China.
Those realities, however, are going to be subsumed in a cloud of politics.
Expect our Democratic friends – up to and including Senator Heitkamp and candidate Schneider – to express skepticism about the trade agreement. Because what’s in their interest right now isn’t sound trade policy but winning an election.
Make no doubt about it, though. The NAFTA agreement is a big win for Trump, and a serious rebuttal to those who say Trump’s approach to this policy area has been unserious.
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Hey Heidi, Give Something Else
Career politician and DC liberal millionaire Heidi Heitkamp is out with a new ad trying to falsely paint her opponent as out-of-touch. But the reality is, Kevin Cramer has always put North Dakotans first.
Heitkamp is using this ad to make utility rates a campaign issue, but that won’t work. Throughout his career Kevin Cramer has always worked to lower these rates. By the end of his tenure as Public Service Commissioner- where salary is set by the state legislature, despite the Heitkamp ad’s claim- North Dakotans had on average the one of the lowest monthly electric bills in the nation. In Congress, he voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act which is reducing utility prices for North Dakotans today.
As for attacking Cramer’s campaign manager, his wife- Heitkamp should be asked why it was okay for Heitkamp-endorsed Democrats like Senator Kent Conrad and gubernatorial nominee Marvin Nelson to also employ their wives and family as campaign staff.
LET’S BE CLEAR— Kevin Cramer has always put North Dakota first, but Heidi Heitkamp has not.
While living in her luxurious $1 million DC home, Heidi Heitkamp has voted against lower taxes, fewer regulations, and lower utility rates for North Dakotans while lining her campaign coffers with millions from New York and California liberals. Despite her ad’s insinuation, Heidi Heitkamp has even taken more money from the oil and gas industry than Cramer has. Heitkamp pushes an elitist, special interest agenda; and she doesn’t vote like North Dakota.
Her new ad is called “Give Yourself,” but if lies, an out-of-touch liberal voting record and anti-jobs, special-interest platform is all she’s offering, Heitkamp should considering giving something else.
“Heidi Heitkamp’s campaign is built on lies, misinformation, and manufactured controversy; and this ad is nothing new,” said North Dakota Republican Party Communications Director Jake Wilkins. “Heitkamp should focus on serving her constituents and answering for her out-of-touch liberal record instead of baselessly attacking her opponents while running from tough questions.”
Heidi’s Un-Helpful Has-Been’s👇
As you can see , Heidi Heitkamp has always relied on national Democrats- like Bill Clinton in 2012– who, after being elected, saw voters go to the polls and reject their policies on election day. 2018 is no exception.
New Ad: Sanctuary Cities– “Scare Tactics?!”
Combatting illegal immigration is a top priority for North Dakotans, especially cracking down on dangerous sanctuary cities; but on this issue, Heidi Heitkamp has a long record of failing to fight for North Dakota’s values. Heitkamp voted three times against defunding these dangerous sanctuary cities that put our citizens and law enforcement officers at risk. And when confronted with her record of failure, Heitkamp dismissed talk of sanctuary cities as a “scare tactic.”
“By repeatedly supporting sanctuary cities and failing to combat illegal immigration, Heitkamp has let North Dakotans down and failed to represent their interests during her time in the Senate,” said North Dakota Republican Party Communications Director Jake Wilkins. “Senator Heitkamp should talk with the families and victims terrorized by criminal illegal immigrants before attempting to dismiss this issue as a Republican ‘scare tactic.’ North Dakotans deserve a Senator like Kevin Cramer who will fight to protect our citizens and uphold the rule of law.”
Transcript
VO: President Trump wants to stop illegal immigration — but Heidi Heitkamp must not.
President Trump: Heidi voted in favor of the deadly, very very dangerous, horrible, sanctuary cities.
VO: Heidi Heitkamp has had 3 chances to crack down on dangerous sanctuary cities. Each time, Heidi voted against North Dakota.
VO: And when Heidi was confronted with her record of failure, she dismissed the issue as a “scare tactic.”
VO: It’s time we tell Heidi Heitkamp this just isn’t a scare tactic. It’s our lives.
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Hiding Heidi Heitkamp “Bolted” From Tough Questions Yesterday
As she’s done for the last six years, Hiding Heidi Heitkamp “bolted” away from answering tough questions yesterday:
High Tax Heidi may have no regrets, but North Dakotans do
President Trump and Kevin Cramer have worked tirelessly to undo eight years of harmful regulations and to help grow our nation’s once-stagnant economy. Kevin Cramer today released an ad committing to continuing these efforts in the Senate.
This positive ad from Cramer contrasts perfectly with Heidi Heitkamp’s negative record on the economy. High Tax Heidi has always supported higher taxes that take more money out of the pockets of North Dakotans. Throughout her long government career, Heitkamp has supported raising taxes on:
- Low, middle, and upper-income individuals
- Small and large businesses
- Energy industries (two times)
- Farmers (three different times)
- Medical devices
- Automobile drivers
- Car and truck insurance
The list goes on. With her state’s economy so reliant on local business, agriculture, energy, and trucking, one would assume the North Dakota Senator would want to help these industries grow, but High Tax Heidi supports raising taxes on all of them. And she’s only doubled down. When she was asked this year if she regretted opposing tax cuts for North Dakotans, Heidi Heitkamp said “no.”
But it’s not just Heitkamp’s perpetual desire to raise taxes on seemingly every North Dakotan that would hurt the economy; her entire campaign platform would as well.
- Obamacare- Like every other Senate Democrat this cycle, Heidi Heitkamp is running on her opposition to repealing Obamacare; but this disastrous law not only caused skyrocketing premiums, it also includes over $819 billion in new taxes.
- Energy- The Heitkamp campaign is promoting her support for a harmful BLM rule from the “amazing” President Obama that put North Dakota jobs at risk.
- Trade- Rather than working alongside the Administration to get our country better deals, Heitkamp actively campaigns on undermining the President’s efforts every step of the way because she “needs her constituents to feel pain.” Her opposition in part encourages other countries to escalate their retaliatory measures, thus prolonging these disputes and potentially hurting vital North Dakota industries.
High Tax Heidi running on an anti-jobs platform is unsurprising, given her aggressive campaigning in 2016 for Hillary Clinton, who promised to put coal companies out of business and thought President Trump’s undeniably successful economic plan would “throw us into a recession.”
With a liberal North Dakota Senator whose record is so anti-North Dakota, it’s no wonder several leading election experts all think Heitkamp’s desperate campaign is headed for defeat.
“As leading Democrats call for President Trump’s removal from office, a vote for Heidi Heitkamp is a vote to empower those demanding the President’s impeachment, to abandon the Trump-Cramer pro-jobs policies, and to turn the clock back on the country’s renewed economic success,” said North Dakota Republican Party Communications Director Jake Wilkins. “While Heitkamp may not regret supporting her anti-jobs agenda, voters this November can tell High Tax Heidi they regret ever supporting her.”
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Weekend Must Reads: Heidi Heitkamp’s Trade Stance is Hurting North Dakota
During commercials of the Sunday shows and football games, be sure to check out this local profile of a North Dakota farmer and Congressman Kevin Cramer’s new op-ed on trade.
Steve Kirch of “Dickinson News” profiled North Dakota farmer and Trump supporter Wayne Gerbig to hear his position on trade. Some key points of the article:
- Some ranchers on the Western Edge of North Dakota are optimistic about how the market looks … One Slope County rancher said he feels good … Wayne Gerbig is a fourth generation rancher, and he and his family lease land on the H-T Ranch in Amidon, ND for their Black Angus cattle, and he said right now he feels pretty good about the cattle market.
- He is optimistic about the recent trade deal between the U.S. and Mexico, which President Donald Trump said will be “Great for our farmers. . . workers.”
- Overall, Gerbig said he still stands behind President Trump … “The administration’s before have never brought forward the imbalance of trade.”
This farmer’s views on trade mirror Kevin Cramer’s, who penned an op-ed for the Bismarck Tribune expressing not only his concern for North Dakota’s agricultural community, but also his support for the President’s overall efforts and his work to end this dispute. Some key points:
- In his recent visit to North Dakota, President Trump said the United States is the “bank” that other countries are robbing, and he is right … It is time for the world to start playing fair with us.
- China’s unfair practices result in a $376 billion trade imbalance and an additional $50 billion lost each year to their piracy of technology and intellectual property. We know their abusive trade practices are also affecting North Dakota’s farmers and ranchers … they unfairly stifle innovative American agricultural science, like genetically engineered crops.
- The President’s use of tariffs on Chinese products is not my preferred trade negotiation method. The collateral damage [of] China’s retaliation … is placing political pressure on the President to back down. … They are purposely agitating the President’s supporter base in hopes the internal strife will make us drop our actions to develop fair trade with them.
- I was the sole member of Congress to testify before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative during two public hearings. I shared how China’s retaliatory tariffs impact North Dakota’s agriculture community and manufacturers. I have made it my mission to communicate clearly and directly with administration officials to ensure they fully understand the impact of China’s retaliatory tariffs. I will continue to urge the president and his administration to bring countries like China to the table to find a free, fair, and reciprocal solution.
- I believe the best way now to serve North Dakota is to offer solutions and I believe the best way to end a trade war is to win a trade war. When this is successful, our nation and our North Dakota agriculture community and manufacturers will benefit for generations to come.
Kevin Cramer’s work on trade is a stark contrast to Heidi Heitkamp, who inexplicably believes undermining President Trump every step of the way, while offering no real solutions, will somehow end this standoff.
Barack Obama Rebukes Heidi Heitkamp’s Lies
When facts don’t support your argument, you resort to fiction; and with her campaign on the brink of failure, Heidi Heitkamp did just that. Here are just a few examples from this week where the Heitkamp machine chose a false narrative over clear facts:
Fiction: Kevin Cramer is “nowhere to be seen” on the Farm Bill.
Fact: Kevin Cramer was addressing the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association to detail the progress on the Farm Bill.
Fiction: Democrats falsely claim that “nearly 300,000 North Dakotans with pre-existing conditions would lose protections [if Obamacare were repealed over overturned] that prevent insurance companies from denying them insurance entirely or charging higher premiums.”
Fact: 92% of insured North Dakotans are covered by their employer or the government, so their coverage would be unaffected. Their 300,000 number is entirely inaccurate on multiple fronts, and Heidi Heitkamp’s campaign was fact-checked for peddling this claim by the Associated Press ~weeks~ ago:
Fiction: Kevin Cramer “has promised to be with the president 100% of the time, even when it’s bad for North Dakota.”
Fact: Kevin Cramer listed policy issues- tax cuts, deregulation, abortion- where he supports the President, and said, “On these very important North Dakota values, you’ll never have to wonder where I’ll be; because I’ll always be with them, and I’ll always be with you.” Unlike the Democrats, we’ll provide a link. Cramer never made this claim, in fact, he told NBC the opposite, “If Donald Trump is with North Dakotans 90 percent of the time, he and I are going to be with North Dakotans that time, and I’m going be with North Dakotans the other 10.”
Fiction: To respond to Cramer’s new energy ad, Heidi Heitkamp told the Washington Post, “You’d be hard pressed to find anyone in Washington who worked on this issue who would say that he helped lead any of” the oil export repeal. Her campaign spent all week pushing comments from Energy Committee Chairman Joe Barton.
Fact: Chairman Barton told NBC News that “Cramer can fairly claim some credit for the law. He was there early and he actually showed up when we needed things to get done.” Kevin Cramer did in fact help lead the repeal of the oil export ban. Unfortunately for Heidi Heitkamp, Chairman Barton is still in Washington, and it still takes more than one lawmaker to pass a law.
As former President Barack Obama said, “When facts and reason are thrown overboard and only timidity passes for wisdom, and we can no longer even engage in a civil conversation with each other over the things that truly matter — that at that point we don’t merely lose our capacity to solve big challenges. We lose something essential about ourselves.”
It sounds like the former President- who Heitkamp stood with nearly 90% of the time and called “amazing“- would be disappointed in the lies and fiction pushed by her campaign this week.
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ND GOP Chairman’s Update – 9/18
I hope everyone has had a great start to their September. Our campaigns and candidates have sure hit the ground running, so I’m excited to share what they’ve all been up to.
President Trump Visits Fargo
President Donald J. Trump came back to Fargo on Friday, September 7th for a special VIP Reception and Fundraiser in support of Kevin Cramer’s U.S. Senate campaign. He reminded our supporters and anyone listening across the country why we need to replace Heidi Heitkamp.
Check out some of his comments here!
National Day of Action
Our North Dakota Republican Party made a strong showing this weekend for our last National Weekend of Action. NDGOP volunteers and staff across the state knocked doors, called voters, and marched in parades- all in support of the Republican ticket.
Read more about the weekend here!
Campaign Signs Available!
Nothing says campaign season like seeing yard signs around the neighborhood! Yard signs for Republican candidates up and down the ballot are available at several of our field offices.
Learn how to get your yard sign here!
Gov. Burgum Hosts Event For Al Jaeger
Senator Sorvaag Addresses NDSU
College Republicans
Senator Ron Sorvaag of District 45 addressed NDSU College Republicans this past Thursday to discuss the importance of standing for what you believe in and how the legislature can connect with young minds.
In The News
Heidi Heitkamp Brother: Trump Will Help Hurricane Florence Victims Because ‘They’re White’
Joel Heitkamp tweeted on Wednesday that potential Hurricane Florence victims do not have to worry about the incoming storm because Trump will come to their aid because “they’re white,” implying that the president did not aid storm victims in Puerto Rico due to their Hispanic heritage. Heitkamp’s tweet comes the same day as the North Dakota Red Cross announced it will travel to North Carolina to help those caught in the wake of the hurricane.
Read the full Breitbart article here.
Fifty Days Until Mid-Terms as Senate Control is in a Toss-up
The race that has really filled my inbox in recent weeks is the North Dakota Senate battle. Both sides in the North Dakota race have been brawling in news releases and ads on an almost hourly basis. Cramer came out Monday with an ad championing his energy policy while criticizing Heitkamp for supporting the Iran nuclear deal, saying “Heitkamp chose Iranian oil producers over hard-working North Dakotans.” The press releases from Cramer and Heitkamp surrogates have attacked just about everything but the brand of toilet paper the other campaign buys. I expect those attacks will come as we get closer to Nov. 6.
Read the full The Progressive Farmer article here.
Congressional Candidate Kelly Armstrong Speaks to Republicans in Fargo
“Really after Labor Day is when people who don’t necessarily eat, breathe, and sleep this stuff start becoming engaged, and now we need to get our message out to as many voters as possible because we think when they hear what we have to say, we’ll get tremendous amount of support,” said Armstrong. Armstrong is going up against former State Senate Minority Leader and Democratic nominee Mac Schneider for North Dakota’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Read the full KVRR article here.
Upcoming Events
District 44 Smores And More Social | Tuesday, September 27 5:30 PM
For more information, contact Chris Langerud at clangerud@gmail.com.