In response to tonight’s breaking news that U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) will not seek re-election this year, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) released the following statement:

“North Dakota was always going to be a competitive seat for the Democrats to defend, and Senator Dorgan’s retirement now provides us with another excellent pick-up opportunity for Republicans in 2010. This development is indicative of the difficult environment and slumping approval ratings that Democrats face as a result of their out of control tax-and-spend agenda in Washington, and we fully intend to capitalize on this opportunity by continuing to recruit strong candidates who can win these seats in November.” – Brian Walsh, NRSC Communications Director

In addition, for your background, I wanted to make sure you saw the below recent Rasmussen polling from North Dakota which found that roughly two-third of North Dakota voters oppose the Democrats’ health care bill. This number was consistent with previous surveys, as a November poll from Zogby found that 62 percent of North Dakota voters were against the bill.

Finally, I would also point out that Senator McCain won North Dakota by almost 10 points in the 2008 Presidential election, with Barack Obama only garnering 44 percent of the vote at the height of his popularity.