I lived in North Dakota until about 20 years ago. As I recall they usually had democrat Senators. Even though it is overall a conservative state, the rural people would vote for the devil himself as long as the farm subsidies kept rolling in.
[[as long as the farm subsidies kept rolling in.]]
And that sums it up perfectly-
North Dakotan here. Heidi Heitkamp is somewhere between a Blue Dog Democrat and a Rockafeller Republican. As a democrat, she’s pretty moderate. Which she has to be to win in an otherwise fairly conservative state. The real liberal/progressive Democrats tolerate her at best but get peaved off because she will vote on the Republican side of an issue if it affects ND agriculture/oil/coal. She knows she has to deliver on those issues and breaks step with her party.