Rep. Kevin Cramer: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Rep. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota is looking to make a move to the Senate. He’s challenging Democratic senator Heidi Heitkamp for her seat. Both have served in Congress since 2013.

Rep. Cramer’s campaign is missing out on support and funding from the powerful Koch brothers. Americans for Prosperity has decided to stay out of this important Senate race. According to a report by the New York Times, David and Charles Koch spent nearly $900 million during the 2016 election to support conservative candidates and issues.

Donald Trump was not the Koch brothers’ first pick for president. But the Koch’s have exerted influence over the current administration anyway. A study by political watchdog group Public Citizen has found that there are more than 20 senior officials in the Trump administration that have close ties to Koch Industries. The Koch brothers support pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, getting rid of the Clean Power Plan enacted by the Obama administration and allowing coal leasing on public lands.

But President Trump lashed out at Koch Industries and its two founders in tweets Tuesday, July 31. He wrote, “The globalist Koch Brothers, who have become a total joke in real Republican circles, are against Strong Borders and Powerful Trade. I never sought their support because I don’t need their money or bad ideas. They love my Tax & Regulation Cuts, Judicial picks & more. I made………them richer. Their network is highly overrated, I have beaten them at every turn. They want to protect their companies outside the U.S. from being taxed, I’m for America First & the American Worker – a puppet for no one. Two nice guys with bad ideas. Make America Great Again!”

The president was reportedly angry that the Koch’s are not helping Rep. Kevin Cramer in his bid to oust a Democrat from the Senate. CNN reports that American for Prosperity is not backing Cramer because of differences in policy priorities. AFP President Tim Phillips told the network, “If this were 2016, we likely would have gone ahead and endorsed” Cramer. But we’re raising the bar.”

Here’s what you need to know.

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1. President Trump Has Joined Rep. Kevin Cramer on the Campaign Trail in North Dakota

Rep. Kevin Cramer’s campaign for the Senate is a personal one for President Trump. Trump was at Cramer’s side at a June rally in Fargo, North Dakota. During the rally, Trump used his speech to slam his critics, promote his desire for a Space Force and push for tougher trade policies.

But he also stressed to the crowd that he needs another Republican in the senate. President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has been meeting with senators, and Trump wants to ensure an easy confirmation. Cramer would be expected to vote in favor of Kavanaugh. It is worth noting, however, that Democratic senator Heidi Heitkamp did vote to support Justice Neil Gorsuch in 2017, who was nominated by Trump.

Heitkamp’s seat is considered vulnerable in this election cycle, despite her record of bipartisanship. She voted with Republicans to ease financial regulations under the Dodd-Frank law. She also supported Justice Neil Gorsuch in 2017, who was nominated by Trump. But she voted against changes to the tax code.

Trump won North Dakota by 36 points and would like to see his influence extend to the ballot box. Within the last year, other Republicans candidates backed by Trump in key races have lost. Examples include: Ed Gillespie in the Virginia governor’s race; Roy Moore of Alabama for the Senate; and Rick Saccone in Pennsylvania’s 18th district.

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2. Kevin Cramer Supported Trump’s Recent Decision to Supply Financial Aid to Farmers

Rep. Kevin Cramer is among the Republican lawmakers who got behind the president’s plan to give $12 billion in aid to American farmers. The emergency relief was to help farmers affected by retaliatory tariffs. Republicans have historically been opposed to this kind of distribution of funds, but a CBS News poll revealed that 56 percent of Americans, including three-quarters of Republicans, were in favor of this assistance.

Rep. Kevin Cramer has expressed his concern about how Chinese tariffs could negatively impact farmers in North Dakota. Cramer claims on his congressional website that he was one of the first lawmakers to suggest “utilizing the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to help mitigate the disproportionate retaliation against our nation’s farmers and ranchers.” His statement on the issue reads, ““Our farmers must know the Administration has their back and I urge them to act swiftly should these tariffs go into effect.”

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3. Rep. Kevin Cramer Promotes North Dakota as an Oil Producer

Rep. Kevin Cramer lists on his website that reducing American dependency on foreign oil is one of his “top priorities as a Congressman.” North Dakota is reportedly on track to hit a record for oil production in 2018. The state is producing on average more than 1 million barrels per day.

Rep. Cramer has been a supporter of the Dakota Access Pipeline. He also supports a lawsuit filed by North Dakota’s attorney general seeking $38 million from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The suit claims the federal government was negligent in their handling of massive protests against the project.

North Dakota’s argument is that the state had to spend millions of dollars providing law enforcement during the protests. Cramer adds that the pipeline protests “helped introduce and proliferate environmental terrorism throughout North Dakota” and that the federal government should help with repairs. The Dakota Access pipeline is expected to deliver as many as 570,000 barrels of oil per day from northwestern North Dakota to existing pipeline in Illinois.

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4. Rep. Cramer Says More Lawmakers Need to Support Trump in Trade Negotiations

China has imposed $3 billion worth of tariffs on American products. Rep. Kevin Cramer has repeatedly said that tariffs concern him because of the possible negative impact to North Dakota farmers and producers. But he vocally supports the president’s handling of the so-called trade war.

In an interview with Bloomberg in June, Rep. Cramer slammed the Obama administration and said Trump had inherited “trade deals where concessions were made to other countries more to their benefit than ours and [Trump] has very limited tools to work with.” Cramer also said that members of Congress should support President Trump in his trade negotiations because “every time we criticize him we undercut his authority.”

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5. The Election Between Kevin Cramer and Heidi Heitkamp Appears to be a Toss-Up

Senator Heidi Heitkamp is considered to be one the more conservative members of the Democratic Party. According to FiveThirtyEight Politics, Heitkamp has voted in line with the Trump administration’s policies 55 percent of the time. A major part of her re-election campaign has been to promote the fact that she is willing to work with lawmakers across the aisle.

But in a state that overwhelmingly supported Trump in the 2016 election, any Democrat seat is bound to be vulnerable. With less than 100 days to go before the November elections, the race between Heitkamp and Kevin Cramer looks to be a toss-up.

There has not been many polls done in North Dakota. The most recent survey conducted in June by Valley News Live and Mason-Dixon Polling gave Cramer a 4-point edge over Heitkamp. But that is within the poll’s margin of error, meaning the race is essentially a tie. The poll showed that Heitkamp has the edge with voters in the eastern part of the state and in Fargo.