Democrat Heidi Heitkamp looks poised to defeat Republican Rick Berg to become the next senator from North Dakota.
The race remains tight and has not been called by the networks as of Wednesday morning, but with 93 percent reporting, CNN had Heitkamp ahead by some 3,000 votes.
Berg — a first term congressman who was elected during the 2010 tea party wave — could still request a recount.
If she wins, Heitkamp, a former attorney general of the state, would replace Sen. Kent Conrad (D), the chairman of the Budget Committee, who did not seek reelection. Her showing in the bright-red state that Mitt Romney easily carried came as a surprise to many.
Sahil Kapur
Sahil Kapur is a congressional reporter for TPM. He previously covered politics and public policy for numerous publications including The Guardian and The Huffington Post. He can be reached at sahil [at] talkingpointsmemo.com.
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