Heitkamp's sister comes forward with adoption story in new campaign ad
"I was 19 and I was pregnant," Melanie Heitkamp shares in the ad.
One day after the first debate in the North Dakota senate race, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp's campaign released an ad featuring the senator's younger sister sharing, for the first time publicly, how her older sister Heidi helped her decide to put her baby up for adoption.
"I was 19 and I was pregnant. I wasn't married and my family was very poor," the ad starts, without a full introduction of the woman speaking, but who shares the same bright hair color as the senator.
"I had to make a choice. My sister helped me choose life," Melanie Heitkamp then says. The six-figure advertisement buy will air on television and digital on Friday.
"Anybody who knows Heidi has seen that family always comes first – no exceptions. That’s why she took Melanie in, cared for her and helped her work through this deeply personal choice," said campaign manager Libby Schneider in a statement.
The ad finishes as Melanie shares her connection to the senator: "My sister is Heidi Heitkamp. And I know she loves North Dakota, as much as she loved my baby girl."
Heitkamp is a Democrat running for re-election in a state President Donald Trump won handily in 2016. It is forcing the senator to maintain a tough balance, and recent public polling shows Heitkamp behind Cramer by double digits – a fact she likes to say was also reported when she won in 2012 by only about 3,000 votes.
Because Democrats need to not only defend 10 seats in states Trump won in 2016, but also pick up two seats in reliably Republican states in order to take control of the chamber, Heitkamp’s seat is key.
