Democrat Katrina Christiansen announces her 2nd bid for North Dakota US Senate seat

Published in AP News | October 18, 2023

Democrat Katrina Christiansen has launched a second bid for one of North Dakota’s U.S. Senate seats.

Christiansen is an assistant engineering professor at the University of Jamestown. She ran for U.S. Senate in 2022 against Republican incumbent John Hoeven, who won a third term with 56% of the vote to Christiansen’s 25% and independent candidate Rick Becker’s 18%.

“North Dakotans deserve strong, principled leadership that prioritizes their needs, and I am fully prepared to take on that responsibility,” Christiansen said in a statement. “People are tired of the chaos and lack of results coming from Washington.”

She is seeking the seat held by Republican U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, who has not announced whether he will seek a second term, The Bismarck Tribune reported on Wednesday.

Cramer was the state’s sole congressman in 2018 when he beat Democratic U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp in one of the most closely watched Senate races that year.

Heitkamp’s 2012 Senate run was the last time Democrats won a statewide election in North Dakota.