Rep. Rick Berg wins GOP nomination for Conrad seat

By Josh Lederman - 06/12/12 11:01 PM ET

Rep. Rick Berg (R-N.D.) coasted to the GOP nomination for Senate on Tuesday, locking up two out of every three votes in the primary to replace retiring Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.).

With 59 percent of precincts reporting, Berg took 66 percent to 34 for Duane Sand, a businessman and frequent congressional candidate.

"Tonight puts us one step closer to preventing Washington from destroying our economy with debts we can’t afford to pay back, to preventing Obamacare from making our medical decisions for us, and to ending the over-regulation of our economy and start growing it,” Berg said in a statement.

Berg’s victory in the primary, where he had long been considered the front-runner, marked the official start of Berg’s general-election fight with former state Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.

In reality, the campaign between Berg and Heitkamp has long been under way, with ads both positive and negative filling the airwaves in Fargo and Grand Forks.

Berg and Republicans have attempted to squeeze Heitkamp into embracing President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and the Affordable Care Act, while Democrats and Heitkamp have portrayed Berg as a millionaire concerned only about himself.

Heitkamp congratulated Berg on his victory and said North Dakota voters would have a clear choice in November.

“I will set party interests aside, put our country first and get to work creating jobs and balancing the budget, while Rick Berg has voted with his party leaders to give millionaires like himself a tax cut, raise Medicare premiums, and end the guarantee of Medicare for those who can least afford it,” Heitkamp said.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee called Heitkamp an “an ardent supporter of the President and his far-left policies,” accusing her of attempting to rewrite history in her attempts to distance herself from the president on healthcare and energy policy.

“North Dakotans understand that Washington is in dire need of individuals who know how jobs are created and that’s why I am confident they will elect Rick Berg to the Senate in November,” NRSC Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) said in a statement.