Governor Hoeven Needs To Announce If He’s Running Against Dorgan Now
Anyone familiar with my political inclinations knows that I’m no fan of North Dakota Governor John Hoeven, and that the idea of his running against Senator Byron Dorgan doesn’t exactly enthuse me. That being said, I wish Hoeven would announce if he’s going to run or not already. Because Dorgan is already building up a campaign war chest with contributions from his usual big-money out-of-state sources, and whoever is going to challenge Dorgan needs to start fundraising now.
(AP) North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan raised nearly $1 million during the past three months and now has $3.5 million in his campaign account for his 2010 re-election campaign.
Dorgan released his quarterly campaign finance report on Wednesday. The Democrat could face Republican Gov. John Hoeven next year. Hoeven has said he expects to make a decision on the Senate race by early September.
Dorgan raised $940,000 during the months of April, May and June.
Hoeven has played this “will he or won’t he” game before, and it’s not fair to his fellow Republicans who might want to run. As much as I dislike him as a political leader, there’s no doubting Hoeven’s popularity and fundraising prowess. If he decides to run against Dorgan there’s no point in any other Republican challenging him for the nomination. But if he doesn’t decide to run, whoever does take on the job needs to start fundraising now to offset Dorgan’s advantage in out-of-state money.
If Hoeven waits too long to announce if he’s in or not, he’ll pretty much assure that whichever Republican does run if he doesn’t will lose in what is going to be a tough, tough campaign regardless.
