Republican congressman Kevin Cramer leads Democratic senator Heidi Heitkamp by 16 points in the latest poll of the North Dakota Senate race — the biggest lead that Cramer has held so far.
According to the survey of 650 likely voters, Cramer leads Heitkamp 56-40 percent. The poll was conducted by Strategic Research Associates from October 12–19. The most recent poll prior to this one put him ahead by twelve points, and before that, an NBC survey gave him a ten-point lead.
The Strategic Research Associates poll is the first survey taken of the North Dakota race since Heitkamp was forced to apologize for publicizing the names and towns of several constituents, labeling them as sexual-assault victims in an advertisement without their consent. Their names were included in an open letter to Cramer, which Heitkamp’s campaign published as an ad last week.