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From The Hill:
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove is planning to travel to North Dakota later this month to rally GOP activists and, Republicans hope, persuade Gov. John Hoeven (R) to challenge Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) next year.
GOP officials are convinced that Hoeven, who won his second term last year with 71 percent of the vote, is the only Republican in the state who can beat the fourth-term Conrad. The senator won reelection in 2000 with 61 percent and, as of June 30, the end of the second quarter of this year, had nearly $2.7 million in his campaign coffers.
Will Hoeven yield to GOP pressure and challenge Conrad? Will Conrad remain a part of the all-Democrat congressional delegation from this dark rd state? More below the fold.
More from The Hill:
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The White House has been lobbying Hoeven for months to get into the race. This year alone, President Bush has lobbied for Social Security reform in North Dakota and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, Treasury Secretary John Snow and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales have visited the state.
Sen. Elizabeth Dole, chairwoman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, gave Hoeven a ticket to attend the president's State of the Union address. Hoeven met with Rove in early June while the governor was in Washington.
The extra attention -- state officials say they can't remember the last time North Dakota played host to so many Washington power brokers -- is meant to accentuate Hoeven's ties to the White House, North Dakota Republicans have said.
The strategy is similar to that employed by the White House in neighboring South Dakota in 2004, when leading Republicans recruited John Thune (R) to challenge successfully Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D).
Conrad appears aware of the parallels between his race and the South Dakota contest. While Republicans slammed Daschle for "obstructing" Bush's judicial nominees and other agenda items, Conrad has insulated himself from that line of attack.
Since Hoeven still hasn't entered the race, despite the fact that he has the full support of the Republican party and has a decent shot at winning, it seems like he is not really interested in the Senate. The question is if he will yield to pressure from the national GOP and enter the race despite his inclination to remain Governor. If we get lucky, Hoeven will refuse, and this race will be a breeze for Conrad. Otherwise, he's in for a tough race. Both Conrad (69%) and Hoeven (74%) are extremely popular, and this race will be a true tossup. However, Hoeven will have to make a strong case that Conrad does not deserve re-election, which will be difficult because North Dakotans clearly like their Democratic Senators and Congressman.
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