Incumbent Byron Dorgan never had a difficult time getting elected, as he obtained 59%, 63%, and 68% in his three senate election bids, respectively. However, in December 2009,
Rasmussen Reports conducted a hypothetical matchup of Governor
John Hoeven against the incumbent. Hoeven led by a large margin, 58% to Dorgan's 36%. Polls showed that 61% of the state still had a favorable view of Dorgan, and if pitted against state senator
Duane Sand, the incumbent led 52% to 37%. Several prominent members of the
North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party expressed an interest in the U.S. Senate race once Senator Dorgan announced that he would not run again. Among those people were
Joel Heitkamp, a former North Dakota state senator and current radio talk show host of
News and Views on
KFGO in Fargo. His sister, former North Dakota attorney general
Heidi Heitkamp of Bismarck, also considered running, but declined to enter the race as well. Heidi Heitkamp later held North Dakota’s other Senate seat from 2013 to 2019. Others who had indicated an interest in the race were businesswoman Kristin Hedger and national progressive talk show host
Ed Schultz. Hedger was the Democratic candidate for
North Dakota secretary of state in the 2006 general election, which she lost to the incumbent, Republican
Alvin Jaeger. While flattered to have been asked, Schultz said he had to decline since he would have been forced to give up his nightly television program on
MSNBC The Ed Show as well as his daily progressive national radio show,
The Ed Schultz Show, in order to run. Also,
Federal Communications Commission regulations decree that equal and free air time would have had to be given to whoever Schultz's opponents would have been in the election in order to allow them to respond to anything that Schultz would have said about them on his programs. == Democratic-NPL primary ==