Heidi Heitkamp’s campaign is in flames at the moment. She paid for full-page ads in multiple North Dakota Newspapers as an “Open Letter to Congressman Cramer“.
This ad was run with the sole purpose as to attack Congressman Cramer who is running for the Senate seat against Democrat Heitkamp. Congressman Cramer made many comments about the confirmation process of Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the Democratic Party took that and ran with it. The campaign claims that it worked with many advocates to identify women who would sign the letter to Congressman Cramer but that is not the case and it improperly identified victims of sexual assault or abuse.
Many of the named 127 named “victims” on the Open Letter have come forward taking to Facebook to complain that their name was used.
“We are here to let you know that we have all suffered from domestic violence, sexual assault, or rape and that yes, we expect somebody to believe us when we say it. Because it happened,” the open letter to Congressman Kevin Cramer reads.
Senator Heitkamp’s ad said they were standing up to Rep. Kevin Cramer who downplayed accusations by Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual assault in high school.
“To whomever decided it was ok to put my name in this ‘open letter’ for the Bismarck Tribune and possibly other newspapers for this Heitkamp campaign for sexual harassment, I am DISGUSTED. I did not give any sort of permission for you to put my name in this. I’m FURIOUS,” said Eve Lancaster on of the 127 women listed.
“I never commented about anything to do with domestic violence and I don’t even support Heidi Heitkamp!!” posted Kady Miller under Eve Lancaster’s post on Facebook.
Since the outrage on her Facebook Page her moderators have removed all posts and banned users altogether from responding. “This is another example of Heidi Heitkamp exploiting whoever she can for political gain. With a campaign built on lies, misinformation, and manufactured controversy, it’s no wonder Heitkamp is the most vulnerable Senator in the country,” said Jake Wilkins, communications director for the North Dakota Republican Party.
“This is completely unprofessional,” commenter Keeley Beck, who also found her name on Heitkamp’s list, wrote. “I want justice,” she added. “For myself and others who were illegally used and taken advantage of for corrupt, in factual, political propaganda.”
This statement bodes very true. Senator Heitkamp is down about 9 points in polls ever since she voted as her party mandated against Justice Brett Kavanaugh and now has taken to exploit the Native American population of North Dakota.
A quick gander at her Facebook Page all she talks about is Native American Voting rights, Missing Native Amerian Women and Native American issues. “I feel like since she lost the vote with constituents with her party loyalty as opposed to what is right she is just focused on them now” said Lainy Volk a registered Democrat.
“I don’t think anyone gets it. No one is voting down party lines anymore it’s about the people running. I am a registered Democrat and I am voting for Independent Tuttle for House, Democrat for AG, Republican for Senate and Independent Michael Coachman for Secretary of State” said Danny of Bismarck.
Heitkamp was on 60 Minutes last week talking about why she voted NO for Justice Kavanaugh.
"That's not someone I want sitting on the bench." Senator Heidi Heitkamp says she thought Brett Kavanaugh’s conduct during his confirmation hearing showed he does not have the right temperament to be on the Supreme Court. https://t.co/pbTijsM9Ih
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 7, 2018
“Sexual assault is a serious crime – and one that too many North Dakota women have experienced. In an attempt to bring awareness to this issue and push back against dismissive comments toward sexual assault survivors by Kevin Cramer, our campaign worked with victim advocates to identify women who would be willing sign the letter or share their story. We recently discovered that several of the women’s names who were provided to us did not authorize their names to be shared or were not survivors of abuse. I deeply regret this mistake and we are in the process of issuing a retraction, personally apologizing to each of the people impacted by this and taking the necessary steps to ensure this never happens again.”
On Friday there is a Senate debate being held in Bismarck between Senator Heitkamp and Congressman Cramer.