North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp garnered some serious support following her decision to vote against Brett Kavanaugh’s bid for the U.S. Supreme Court.
In the first 17 days of October, Heitkamp raised $12.4 million from supporters, according to a fundraising disclosure obtained by Politico. The amount was more than three times greater than the $3.7 million she raised in the entire previous quarter, according to the report.
While the fundraising disclosure made no mention of Kavanaugh or the reason for the additional support, Heitkamp’s decision to vote against his nomination seemingly sparked broad support. She was receiving an average of 221 donations a day in the first three days of October, but that figure jumped to an average of more than 3,000 donations in the next two weeks. She voted against Kavanaugh on October 4.
Heitkamp was widely considered a critical vote in the Kavanaugh debate. While he received broad support among Republicans, Heitkamp, a Democrat, was considered a swing vote because of a bitter reelection battle she’s waging in her home state against Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer. Kavanaugh was ultimately confirmed by the Senate, but Heitkamp sided with many Democrats in voting against him following accusations of sexual misconduct during his high school and college years.
Looking ahead, Heitkamp now has less than two weeks to get her supporters to the polls and help her win reelection. Despite her increase in financial support, a recent NBC poll found Cramer has a 16-point advantage among likely voters.