A "Safe" Senator Losing Badly

Since I'll be talking to the audience in North Dakota this morning I thought I'd include this item about one of their Dem Senators who faces re-election next year:

Incumbent Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan may have a serious problem on his hands if Republicans recruit Governor John Hoeven to run for the U.S. Senate in North Dakota next year.

The first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 telephone survey of likely voters in North Dakota finds the popular Republican governor leading Dorgan by 22 points – 58% to 36%. Just six percent (6%) are undecided in that senatorial contest.

Part of the challenge for Dorgan is the health care legislation working its way through Congress. Dorgan, along with every Democrat in the Senate, has voted to move the legislation forward and is expected to vote for final approval of the reform later this week. That’s not likely to be well received in North Dakota where just 30% favor the proposed health care reform plan and 64% are opposed.

North Dakota is a pretty red state, and yet has three Democrats in Congress - their one and only House member and both Senators.

From what I hear Gov. Hoeven is a big spender, something which a lot of Republicans in the state disapprove of, but if he could knock of Dorgan I think they'd be glad to vote for him.