Mary Kathryn "Heidi" Heitkamp (/ˈhaɪtkæmp/, HYTE-kamp; born October 30, 1955) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from North Dakota from 2013 to 2019.

[2] In November 2011, Heitkamp declared her candidacy to replace the retiring Kent Conrad as U.S. senator from North Dakota in the 2012 election.

[8] 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.

North Dakota Governor George A. Sinner appointed Heitkamp tax commissioner before she ran for the office and was elected with 66% of the vote against Republican Marshall Moore.

Heitkamp has occasionally filled in as host of his program, News and Views, which is broadcast on KFGO in Fargo and other stations in North Dakota.

[33] In 2014, The Daily Beast suggested that Heitkamp might be a presidential contender in 2020, writing that she had come to Washington "personifying traditional values of the Old West: candor, consistency, hard work, and a sense of good faith and fair play.

"I'm not saying 'never, never,' but I will tell you that I'm very, very honored to serve the people of North Dakota and I hope that no matter what I do, that will always be my first priority...The job that I have right now is incredibly challenging.

[37] In October 2018, Heitkamp apologized after her campaign ran a newspaper advertisement that "included names of victims of domestic violence, sexual assault or rape without their permission.

[46] In 2021, Heitkamp lobbied against Democratic Party efforts to raise taxes on corporations, large inheritances and the superwealthy to pay for a $3.5 trillion social spending bill.

[62] In June 2018, Americans for Prosperity, which is backed by the Koch brothers, ran digital advertisements thanking Heitkamp for her vote to pass legislation loosening financial regulations on banks.

She criticized her Senate race opponent Rick Berg for wanting to repeal the law, citing concerns about insurance companies denying coverage to children with preexisting conditions.

[64] During the United States federal government shutdown of 2013, Heitkamp criticized Republican attempts to use the Continuing Appropriations Resolution as "a vehicle to legislate other issues," such as the defunding of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and a delay of its individual mandate.

[66] During the 2013 government shutdown, Heitkamp donated about $8,000 of her salary to North Dakota charities that support veterans, provide healthcare supplies to those that cannot afford them, and raise breast cancer awareness.

[67] In January 2018, Heitkamp was one of six Democrats to join Republican senators in voting to confirm Trump's nominee for Health secretary, Alex Azar.

[68] Heitkamp sought to get the Trump Administration "to get the Export-Import Bank in high gear to help North Dakota's economy.

She said the exceptions would include wartime spending, Social Security, Medicare, and a ban on tax cuts for those making more than $1 million per year.

[28] Politico wrote in 2017 that Heitkamp "hates the White House's budget's agriculture cuts and believes they'd devastate North Dakota".

After her election, however, she voted to filibuster a bill that would have made abortions illegal after the fifth month of pregnancy except when the mother's life is endangered.

In December 2016, she told Bloomberg News, "Many of the people who voted for Donald Trump are the same voters from rural communities who I know, grew up with and work with every day."

According to Bloomberg, Heitkamp "hinted at a preference for Trump politicos over Washington ones because the former don't 'come as establishment Republicans,' but have a great 'willingness to listen to a different perspective.

Everett quoted Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin as saying that it is "a complete waste of time" to try to get Heitkamp to vote with her party when she is determined to do otherwise.

"[28] On September 6, 2017, Trump gave a speech in North Dakota and, in addition to inviting Republican officials onstage, also asked Heitkamp to join him, explaining: "Everyone's saying: What's she doing up here?

Amber Phillips of The Washington Post noted that given Trump's popularity in North Dakota, his remarks had amounted to "a potentially massive boost" for Heitkamp as she sought "to remain the state's lone statewide elected Democrat.

"[86] Heitkamp voted to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, telling CNBC that she had made this decision "based on an interview and a review of his record."

During the three weeks after her October 6 vote, Real Clear Politics reported her polling deficit in her 2018 reelection campaign against Republican challenger Kevin Cramer had widened from 8.7% to 14%.

"[80] In an April 11, 2013, interview, Heitkamp said that she intended to vote against the Manchin-Toomey amendment, which was introduced in the Senate after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

It would have amended the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to expand background checks to gun shows and internet purchases.

[97] Her vote against expanded background checks for gun buyers angered many, including former White House chief of staff William M. Daley, who "was so enraged he wrote a blistering attack in the Washington Post asking for his $2,500 campaign donation back.

"[35] She has said that she supports the Keystone XL pipeline because it will create jobs, decrease America's dependence on foreign oil from the Middle East, and help drive down the national debt.

[101][102] In December 2016, Heitkamp told CNBC that although the Army Corps of Engineers had refused to approve permits needed to complete the Dakota Access pipeline, that would change under Trump.