Republicans help senate's Democrats by delaying farm help

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Heidi Heitkamp is walking through neat rows of soybeans in blue jeans and a fleece jacket, with a silo and grain bins visible in the background, talking about the need to put North Dakota farmers ahead of partisanship.

That TV ad, which debuted Sept. 13, is the latest in a series of appeals to the state’s rural voters. She often reminds them that the Republican-led House has failed to even vote on the every-five-year agriculture-policy bill that funds subsidies for farmers. She credits that pitch with helping nudge the North Dakota Senate race from a probable Republican pick up to a tossup.