North Dakota is being bombarded with
television ads for the tight, closely watched U.S. Senate race
between former attorney general and Democrat Heidi Heitkamp and
Republican Congressman Rick Berg.
University of North Dakota political science professor Mark
Jendrysik says North Dakotans are seeing an unprecedented level of
political commercials in an election that's destined to play a big
role in which party controls the Senate next year.
He says the race likely will be the most expensive in state
history. Heitkamp's campaign said Thursday she had raised nearly $1
million in the second quarter.
Jendrysik says in addition to Heitkamp's and Berg's own war
chests, special interest groups and political action committees are
funding ads that ``beat each other up so that they don't have to do
it themselves.''
