Border States Electric CEO Says She Won’t Be Challenging Senator Heitkamp This Cycle

Tammy Miller, CEO of Border States Electric, had been considering seeking the NDGOP nomination for the United States Senate. If she’d won that nomination it would have pitted her against Democratic incumbent Heidi Heitkamp.

But this morning Miller told me she has decided not to run.

“Earlier this year, I was approached to consider a run for North Dakota’s U.S. Senate seat in 2018,” she told me this morning. “After much consideration, I have decided to stay in my position as CEO and fulfill my commitments to the employee-owners and board at Border States. ”

“I appreciate the encouragement and insight of all who weighed in on this decision,” she continued.

Miller would have been a very strong challenger to Heitkamp, I think. Certainly Democrats I spoke to about her potential candidacy were worried at the prospect of Heitkamp facing a female candidate with a strong background of business world success.

This is the second potential candidate for Republicans to drop out in recent weeks. Kathy Neset, an oil industry consultant and member of the State Board of Higher Education, had also been the target of NDGOP recruitment efforts and also declined to run.

Currently the NDGOP has just one candidate in the U.S. Senate race, and that’s state Senator Tom Campbell who has already been campaigning for months.

Congressman Kevin Cramer is still considering a possible run for the Senate, though hasn’t yet announced his intentions. Former Congressman Rick Berg and state Rep. Rick Becker have also expressed interest in a run.