John Hageman
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John Hageman covers North Dakota politics from the Forum News Service bureau in Bismarck. He attended the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities, where he studied journalism and political science, and he previously worked at the Grand Forks Herald and Bemidji Pioneer.
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BISMARCK — With less than three weeks to go before the election, Heidi Heitkamp and Kevin Cramer debated for the first time Thursday, Oct. 18, often relying on familiar campaign themes and highlighting well-known differences between the two longtime North Dakota politicians.
BISMARCK — The parade of national media visits to North Dakota continued this week when a crew from Showtime's weekly political documentary series "The Circus" arrived to cover the state's pivotal U.S. Senate race and voter identification law.
BISMARCK — Taking the debate stage for the first time against her Republican opponent Rep. Kevin Cramer on Thursday, Oct. 18, North Dakota Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp again apologized for mistakenly identifying women as domestic violence and sexual assault victims in a newspaper ad. Heitkamp addressed the incident that rocked her campaign three weeks before Election Day in her opening statements, calling it a horrible error.
BISMARCK — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum's office has finalized a new ethics policy that prevents its employees from accepting gifts exceeding $50 in value, a spokesman said Wednesday, Oct. 17. The policy was finalized months after Burgum, a Republican, reimbursed Xcel Energy nearly $40,000 for tickets to the Super Bowl and other related events. Burgum spokesman Mike Nowatzki said the policy was in the works before the football game flap. There wasn't a policy in place when the governor took office in 2016, he said.
BISMARCK — After an initial matchup between the two candidates was canceled, Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp and Rep. Kevin Cramer will meet for their first highly anticipated debate Thursday, Oct. 18. The two candidates will face off at 7 p.m. for one hour at the Bismarck Public School's Career and Technical Academy at Bismarck State College. Their first debate, scheduled for earlier this month, was canceled amid planned votes to confirm now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
BISMARCK — North Dakota Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp apologized Tuesday, Oct. 16, for misusing women’s names in a campaign ad that identified them as victims of domestic violence, sexual assault or rape, a move her Republican opponent Rep. Kevin Cramer criticized as “beyond reckless.”
BISMARCK — Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer raised almost $1.7 million in the third quarter for his Senate bid, according to filings his campaign provided Monday, Oct. 15. Cramer, who's trying to unseat Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, had $1.2 million on hand at the end of September, according to the first few pages of his Federal Election Commission filing. He has raised almost $5 million this election cycle.
BISMARCK — On the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, where the tribal chairman estimated the unemployment rate sits at 60 percent, $15 could buy a new tribal identification or help pay heating bills through a long North Dakota winter. So amid a multi-year legal and legislative battle over North Dakota's voter ID laws, Chairman Jamie Azure signed an executive order to provide free tribal IDs for a limited time. Demand was so high, he said, the machine overheated and started melting the IDs.
BISMARCK — After winning her U.S. Senate seat six years ago, Heidi Heitkamp triumphantly held up a copy of The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead weeks after the state's largest newspaper published poll results showing her trailing her Republican opponent by 10 points. Heitkamp, a Democrat, is hoping for another Dewey-defeats-Truman moment next month. She shrugged off public polls showing her behind Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer, noting that President Donald Trump was expected to lose in 2016.
BISMARCK — Prairie Public officials are no longer expecting to reschedule the Friday, Oct. 5, debate between Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp and Republic Rep. Kevin Cramer. The debate was postponed because the Senate was set to vote on now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. Heitkamp announced she would oppose Kavanaugh the day before the scheduled debate, and the Senate confirmed him on Saturday. Matt Olien, a producer at Prairie Public, said Thursday they offered dates before the Nov. 6 election, but Cramer's camp said he was too busy.