Ouch: Online Poll Not Looking Good For Heidi Heitkamp Run In 2016

Senator Heidi Heitkamp refused to rule out running for governor in 2016. She made the comments while getting in a dig at Rep. Roscoe Streyle’s bill to modify how the state fills vacancies in its federal delegation (under current law if Heitkamp won in 2016 she’d get to appoint her own replacement).

“[T]here wasn’t much thinking involved,” was Heitkamp’s catty remark about Streyle’s bill.

But what’s got Heitkamp so upset? Is it Streyle’s bill? Or the fact that Streyle has sort of forced Heitkamp to acknowledge that she’s possibly running for Governor far before she’s ready? I suspect it’s the latter, and this completely unscientific online poll conducted by the Fargo Forum about a possible Heitkamp run in 2016 may illustrate why she’s so upset:

I’m honestly surprised at the results. Again, this is poll is completely unscientific, but it is a poll conducted by a newspaper with a left-wing editorial bent which publishes for one of the most left-wing areas in the state. Not only that, but Heitkamp isn’t being polled against anyone. She’s being polled against an unnamed Republican challenger.

Yet she still barely over 40 percent?

I’m considering doing some actual polling of this question (it’s expensive, so I need to see if there’s room in the SAB budget). I’m sure Heitkamp is going to be quietly polling too, if she hasn’t already.

But I have to think that a strong majority of a couple of thousand Forum readers saying “no thanks” to a Heitkamp run isn’t sitting well.

Watch carefully, SAB readers. I’m guessing over the next several months Heitkamp will be very visible in North Dakota in ways that will serve as a trial balloon for 2016. Her actions will speak volumes. Stay tuned.