BISMARCK, North Dakota (AP) — In North Dakota, where Donald Trump won in a landslide last year, Republicans' lone Senate candidate is a little-known state lawmaker — and potato farmer — from a remote small town closer to the Canadian border than the state capital. While established Republicans and business leaders in other states Trump carried are running to topple Democratic senators, the GOP is struggling to land a big name in North Dakota to run against Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp in 2018. In Missouri, Republican Attorney General Josh Hawley has gathered steam, and Trump's public support, in a crowded GOP field for the chance to face Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. And yet, in North Dakota, where Trump won by 36 percentage points, the only declared GOP candidate for U.S. Senate is state Sen. Tom Campbell, unknown to many despite spending nearly $500,000, most of it his own money, on television ads to introduce himself. Rich Wardner, the Republican majority leader in the North Dakota Senate, described Campbell as overmatched in a primary with Cramer.

Source: Economic Times December 16, 2017 08:03 UTC