North Dakota Dem earns some Trump backers by leaning GOP

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Sen. Heidi Heitkamp is the only statewide-elected Democrat in heavily Republican North Dakota, where President Donald Trump rolled to a win last year and the GOP is optimistic about knocking out the senator in next year's midterm elections.

Yet Heitkamp hardly resembles many of her hard-charging, Trump-resisting Democratic colleagues in Washington. She welcomed word of Trump's planned visit to the state on Wednesday, expressing the hope that he addresses "the kitchen-table issues that keep North Dakotans" up at night. She has voted for Trump nominees and diverges from Democratic orthodoxy on numerous issues, especially her state's prized energy reserves.