#5

112^TH AND 113^TH Congress HOEVEN’s DWnominate score       0.342

 

Hoeven’s DW nominate shows that he is a liberal-conservative .0.342 is not an extreme number that makes me believe that he is a moderate Republican. This is no surprise since he was democratic before becoming Republican.

Party Unity Votes

Senator Hoeven votes with his party 97% of the time since his start of the 112th Congress. In the current session, he has voted 137 time with his party out of the 161 total votes ( 85.1 %). This shows his party loyalty. North Dakota is the second most conservative state, and so John Hoeven’s party loyalty is no surprise as well. Voting along with his party ensures that the majority of North Dakotans are happy. This elevates his chances of re-election.

 Interest group scores

These scores indicate that Hoeven’s conservative voting record. According to VoteSmart,  “some groups select votes that tend to favor members of one political party over another. Rather than choosing votes based solely on issues concerns”, hence, it’s hard to conclude that these ratings showcase the Senator’s partisan stance.

NARAL Pro-Choice America-Positions    0%                                                                                                                                                

United States Chamber of Commerce       96%                                                      

                                                               

Competitive Enterprise Institute- Workplace Choice (August, 2013)           100%

Americans for Democratic Action- Positions (ADA)                                    10%                                           

                       
Crossing party lines

According to GovTrack.us, 52% of Hoeven’s bills and resolutions had a Democratic and Republican co-sponsor. His record of crossing party lines is highest 10% amongst all senators (GovTrack.us). 

Committee Assignments

According to GovTrack.us (most visited government transparency website), John Hoeven sits on the following committees:

· Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

o Chairman, Subcommittee on Nutrition, Specialty Crops, and Agricultural Research

o Member, Subcommittee on Commodities, Risk Management and Trade

o Member, Subcommittee on Rural Development and Energy

· Senate Committee on Appropriations

o Chairman, Subcommittee on Department of Homeland Security

o Member, Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies

o Member, Subcommittee on Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies

o Member, Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development

o Member, Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies

· Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

o Member, Subcommittee on Energy

o Member, Subcommittee on National Parks

o Member, Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining

 Senate Committee on Indian Affairs


As you can see above, Senator John Hoeven serves on four Senate committees and 11 subcommittees while serving as a chairman for two of the subcommittees. Agriculture,and energy is one of the main economic sectors of North Dakota. Hence, it’s no surprise that Senator Hoeven is involved in Committees that best serve his constituents (Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources). Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is also another assignment that is beneficial to North Dakotans as American Indian and Alaska Native alone constitute 5.4 percent of the population.

How are the committees beneficial?

SenateCommittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Agriculture is the main top industry in North Dakota, therefore this committee is beneficial in developing legislations that are helpful in solving variety of issues affecting farmers, and as such.

SenateCommittee on Appropriations: “This committee is tasked with writing the legislation that allocates federal funds to the numerous government agencies, departments, and organizations on an annual basis” (John Hoeven’s website). One of the key issues John Hoeven is focused on is National Debt. Serving on this committee will help solve issues not only on a state level, but also national.

SenateCommittee on Energy and Natural Resources: According to class lecture, Members of Congress seek to serve on committees that are essential to their constituents. This holds to be true in this case. Energy besides agriculture is also one of the key and growing economy in North Dakota. This committee helps develop legislation that is essential in developing energy resources. This affects regional issues more than partisan interests.

SenateCommittee on Indian Affairs: This committee works on proposing legislations that help improve the lives of American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native, and decrease problems they face in regards to education, health care, economic development and so on.

Committee work matters to Senator Hoeven because it will ensure his constituents that he is doing something to improve their lives. This will help his electoral goals as it will help him credit claim when and if a bill is passed.

Hoeven's Electoral Circumstances

Previous election results:

2010 General John Hoeven Votes: 181,689 Percent: 76.08% Spent: $3,801,481

                      Tracy Potter Votes: 52,955 Percent: 22.17% Spent: $103,569 2010 

Primary John Hoeven Votes: 65,075 Percent: 100.0%

John Hoeven as a governor candidate was very famous and had a lot of support. His success as a governor played a huge factor in his win for Senator in 2010. He won by a huge margin (by almost 80% of the votes) against his opponent Tracy Potter. Hoeven didn’t have a strong competition; he raised  $3,801,481 beating out Tracy Potter massively, who only raised $103,569.

  

John Hoeven won the 2010 election with flying colors and had and still has a lot of support from his constituents. His track record as a politician and as a Governor has enlisted trust upon the people, and there is no doubt that he will win again in the 2016 election. According to Roll Coll, his net worth is 15.16 million, ranking at 28th on the rich senators list. This gives him the additional boost for his success in the upcoming elections. 

There isn't much being said about the upcoming primary election. It seems to be clear that John Hoeven is the leading candidate for the election. According to National Journal group,“Hoeven didn’t have to campaign very hard. The Democrats barely put up a fight against a governor with an 80% approval rating in a state that had moved solidly to the GOP in recent elections.”  His previous election shows how much support he has among his constituents, and this will not likely change since he has been on top of his game.   

In 2012, 58% of North Dakotans voted for Mitt Romney. North Dakotans have participated in 31 presidential elections, and they have voted Republicans 25 times. There is no surprise that North Dakota is a Republican state. John Hoeven seems to have everything going for him.He has a massive Republican support; the people love him. His credibility as a Governor (as discussed in my previous blogs ), and his massive success as a Senator will lead him to be the leading candidate in the 2016 election.  

North Dakota is one of the 14 states that uses an open primary system. This might be an issue to John Hoeven because he is more likely to face a highly qualified candidate.However,  presidential coattails  are much stronger in figuring out who will likely win the congressional election. Voters are more likely to choose a congressional candidate consistent with their presidential votes. 

Possible issues and discussions for 2016:

• Keystone Pipeline/ Energy 
• Healthy care reform 
• Economy and budget/Job Creation
• National Debt
• Federal farm program 

John Hoeven's Strategy

Hoeven’s business skill, and past leadership experience as a governor gave him credibility to ran for Senator and win. His track records also served as a testament to his leadership skill. According to Open Secrets, Hoeven raised $3,801,481 for his 2010 election, beating out Tracy Potter by a huge margin. Hoeven’s experience plays a major factor in helping him gain support. Hoeven has played a crucial role in raising the economy, the employment rate, expanding the economy and cutting taxes. He is determined to use that same approach he used as Governor and help elevate North Dakota. As his role as senator, Hoeven has played an influential role in introducing legislation.Govtrack.us reports show that he has sponsored 25 bills and co-sponsored 175 bills.One of the bills Hoeven recently introduced is the Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Act. This bill was passed by chambers of Congress, but Vetoed by the President. Hoeven slammed the President’s decision, saying, “The president’s veto is bad news for Americans and good news for OPEC. We are in a competition with OPEC for global market share and energy leadership. Whenever the president makes it harder to produce and transport energy here at home and work with our close ally Canada, he makes it easier for OPEC to keep us dependent on their oil "(Facebook) 

Hoeven's website showcases his role as a politician and his achievements.As a member of the agriculture committee and the conference committee, Hoeven played a powerful role in passing a farm bill.According to Hoeven, “The farm bill provides good options for producers to manage risk with strengthened crop insurance, strong support for our livestock producers, while at the same time saving $23 billion dollars” (Facebook). This bill is effective, as North Dakota’s main economic sector is Agriculture. 





Some of the bills Sponsored and Co-sponsored by Hoeven include: 

Sponsored

• Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Act
• Native American Children's Safety Act
• A bill to modify the efficiency standards for grid-enabled water heaters.
• S.AMDT.87 to S.1 To express the sense of Congress regarding climate change. 

Co-sponsored

• Hire More Heroes Act of 2015
• Forty Hours Is Full-Time Act of 2015
• LNG Permitting Certainty and Transparency Act
• Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015

Hoeven has been active in introducing legislations, and co-sponsoring bills that are deemed crucial for his state’s growth. In addition, he has also played an active role in meeting up with North Dakotan constituents, and showing his support. According to Hoeven's Twitter account, recently, he has spoken at the University of Mary, about the importance of having a vision and the key to leadership. He has also recently visited Minnkota Power Cooperative’s Milton R. Young Station, BNI Coal Ltd, and the air-force in trying to show support, initiate ideas and discuss future goals.  Hoeven was also recently given the honor to deliver the annual reading of Washington’s Farewell Address. This has gained him a huge support and compliments from his constituents. 

Franking and Mailers 

Hoeven’s website is the major source in helping his constituents keep up with what he is doing. His website contains recent issues, legislations, and news releases. Constituents also can sign up for e-Newsletter to get the most recent update, and furthermore, can email the Senator as well. Hoeven is also keen on using his Facebook and Twitter account in showcasing his current affairs and activities as a senator.

North Dakota's Senator--John Hoeven

• Born: March 13, 1957
• Residence: Bismarck, N.D. (Born and raised)
• Education: Received his B.A. from Dartmouth College, and M.B.A from Northwestern University.

• Family: Married to Mical (Mikey) Hoeven. They have two children (Marcela and Jack), and two grandsons, Crew and Jaxon.

Religion: Roman Catholicism

Political Party: Republican

Career: Served as governor of North Dakota for a decade before becoming a senator.

He was executive vice President of First Western Bank (In Minot from 1986-1993).

From 1993-2000, he was the president and CEO of the Bank of North Dakota. The bank grew from $900 million to 1.6 billion under his leadership.

Tenure: 2011-Present

He is currently serving his first term. He defeated Democratic-Non-partisan League candidate Tracy Potter and Libertarian Keith J.Hanson in November 2, 2010.

North Dakota: “Liberty and Union Now and Forever, One and Inseparable.”

• Capital: Bismarck
• Population: 739,482
•  Religious makeup: 67.12% of the people are religious. Catholic and Lutheran are the most
  
  common.
• Race:
  White: 87.3%
  American Indian and Alaska Native alone: 5.4%
  Hispanic or Latino: 2.9%
  Two or more races: 1.9%
  Black or African American
  Asian: 1.2%
  Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander : 0.1%

• Economy: Agriculture and energy.“United States’ largest producer of flaxseed, canola, durum wheat, spring wheat, dry edible beans, honey, lentils, sunflowers, barley and oats. Beef, dairy cattle and hogs are also important to its agricultural economy." One of the top oil producing states, and ranks ninth in wind-generated electricity.  

Fun Facts

• North Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate.
• North Dakota is the least visited country in the U.S.
• It's the adopted home of President Theodore Roosevelt.
• North Dakota produces the most honey than any other state.
• There are approximately three times more cattle than people.
• Josh Duhamel is from North Dakota!

Sources

http://ballotpedia.org/John_Hoeven

http://www.hoeven.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/north-dakota-story?p=about-north-dakota

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H001061

http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045214/38,00

http://facts.randomhistory.com/north-dakota-facts.html

http://www.bestplaces.net/economy/state/north_dakota