Senator Heidi Heitkamp

Heidi Heitkamp served as a Senator from North Dakota in the United States Congress from 2013 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, Heidi Heitkamp contributed to the legislative process during 1 term in office.

Heidi Heitkamp’s service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history. As a member of the Senate, Heidi Heitkamp participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of constituents.

Mary Kathryn “Heidi” Heitkamp (, HYTE-kamp; born October 30, 1955) is an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States senator from North Dakota from 2013 to 2019. A member of the North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party, her 2012 victory made the first woman elected to Congress from North Dakota, where served as the 20th tax commissioner from 1986 to 1992 and as the 28th state attorney general from 1992 to 2000. As of 2025, she is the last Democrat to have won or held statewide office in North Dakota. Heitkamp ran for governor of North Dakota in 2000 and lost to Republican John Hoeven. She considered a bid for the Democratic nomination in the 2010 U.S. Senate election to replace the retiring Byron Dorgan, but on March 3, 2010, declined to run against Hoeven, who was ultimately elected. In November 2011, Heitkamp declared her candidacy to replace the retiring Kent Conrad as U.S. senator from North Dakota in the 2012 election. She narrowly defeated Republican Congressman Rick Berg on November 6, 2012, in that year’s closest Senate race. Heitkamp was North Dakota’s second female senator, after Jocelyn Burdick, and the first woman to be elected to the Senate from the state. On November 6, 2018, Republican congressman Kevin Cramer defeated Heitkamp in her bid for reelection. After leaving the Senate, Heitkamp became a CNBC contributor and visiting fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics. In April 2019, with Senator Joe Donnelly of Indiana (who also lost reelection in 2018), she launched One Country Project, an organization aimed at helping Democrats reconnect with rural voters. In January 2023, Heitkamp became the director of the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.