Berg Concedes to Heitkamp - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Berg Concedes to Heitkamp

It was the most-watched contest of the election - the battle for the US Senate seat being vacated by Kent Conrad.

Democrat Heidi Heitkamp held a slim lead over Republican Rick Berg in the senate race.

But with a margin of three thousand votes - or a little less than one percentage point, Rick Berg conceded the race to Heidi Heitkamp.

"I just want to be clear that I want to concede this election to Heidi Heitkamp and thank her for her effort and her passion, even though I may not agree with her philosophy, but I think her passion is what makes our country great," Rick Berg said.

Heidi Heitkamp defeated Rick Berg by roughly three-thousand votes for the North Dakota Senate Seat.

Heitkamp is the first female from North Dakota to be elected into the senate, replacing Democratic Senator Kent Conrad who is retiring.

Last night Heitkamp came out to a crowd of hundreds at the Democratic Headquarters in Bismarck --- thanking them for all of their hard work.

"It just reminds me you came in the beginning you came to the rallies, you opened up your checkbooks, you donated, you volunteered, you put some skin in the game and you made this happen." Heidi Heitkamp said.

The secretary of state's office reports the turnout for yesterday's election was a record in North Dakota with 324,597 ballots cast.

That's about 400 more votes than the previous high set in 1984.

And while the 2012 ballot total is the highest ever in the state, it's not anywhere near a record as a percentage of the eligible voters in the state.

Preliminary figures show this year's turnout was about 61% of the eligible voters.

The highest-ever percentage was in 1984, when 69% of eligible voters cast ballots.