Sierra Heitkamp
Sierra Heitkamp is running for the North Dakota District 21 Senate seat. Heitkamp is a North Dakota State student who is studying economics, politics and agriculture. Heitkamp is a chairwoman for the NDSU and National College Republicans. A North Dakotan native, Heitkamp is from the Barney, North Dakota.
District 21 includes all of downtown Fargo, and Heitkamp said on her campaign’s Facebook page that she “will support legislation that ensures growth and prosperity in our beautiful downtown area.”
She is running with the support of Gov. Doug Burgum and Sen. John Hoeven, with Burgum stating, “Sierra Heitkamp will represent Fargo strongly in the state Senate and will be a reliable partner as we seek to transform education and build vibrant downtown through the Main Street Initiative.”
Downtown Fargo and District 21 is on the border with NDSU.
Minnesota governor race
The race for governor of Minnesota has been lighting up airways with advertisements, as Republican candidate Jeff Johnson and Democratic candidate Tim Walz fight for office. The race has been decidedly in Walz’s favor thus far, with the most recent poll by KSTP and SurveyUSA showing the Democrat up 8 percentage points.
On the issues, Johnson has formed an association with President Donald Trump and a lot of his viewpoints, whereas Tim Walz has aligned himself with a lot of the Democratic Party without straying to the extreme or making waves for any overtly liberal opinions.
This race could tell us just how purple Minnesota has become or if the state that narrowly voted for Hillary Clinton is still stark blue.
Race in Florida
Florida has a long history of being one of the most decisive states in politics, and their governor’s race is shaping up to be no different. Democratic candidate Andrew Gillum is only 2 points ahead of his Republican competitor Ron DeSantis. The race received national attention after a clip of the candidates’ debate went viral.
The clip went viral because of Gillum’s “a hit dog will holler” response to DeSantis denying his relationship to known racists, which included campaign contributions.
DeSantis initially got heat for his remark that voters would “monkey this election up” by voting for Gillum.
This race will be very interesting in light of recent hate-fueled attacks on the Jewish and Black communities. Results could act as a pendulum for racial tensions and how they will affect national politics and one of the most important states in the Electoral College.