50 IN '10:

Republicans see chance for North Dakota Senate seat (JOSH KRAUSHAAR, 8/4/09, Politico)

Despite voting Republican on the presidential level for the past 40 years, the state’s three-member congressional delegation is made up of Democrats with a combined 66 years of public service. Democrat Byron Dorgan, the state’s junior senator, has represented North Dakota in Congress since 1980 and never has faced a tough reelection.

The state’s three-term Republican governor, John Hoeven, is the longest-serving chief executive in the country and has steered the state through prosperity even in difficult economic times — North Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation.

But the state’s political stability would become a distant memory next year if Hoeven decides to leave the governorship to challenge Dorgan for reelection.