Mandan Mayor Tim Helbling said he is supporting Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., in his re-election bid for the U.S. Senate next year.

Dorgan released a list of supporters for his 2010 re-election bid on Wednesday that includes 300 names and nearly 40 mayors, including Fargo's Dennis Walaker and Grand Forks' Michael Brown.

Helbling said Thursday that Dorgan's political clout in the Senate is what garnered his support.

"I think he's done a lot for the state," Helbling said. "I think for somebody in his place, to get where he's at is going to take years. He's always worked out for the Bismarck-Mandan communities."

Republican Gov. John Hoeven has considered a run against Dorgan next year, but said he won't be making any decisions soon about challenging the three-term senator.

Helbling said if Hoeven does decide to challenge Dorgan next year, "it's possible" it could change who he supports for the 2010 race.

New in town

Janet Morgan, an Ohio woman who recently moved to Glenfield to take a job she couldn't find back home, was the topic of a Washington Post story on Friday.

Morgan, the Post reports, is one of thousands of people considering work in North Dakota as the national recession continues to strangle job markets.

"The state, once known primarily for its remoteness," reporter Eli Saslow writes, "is enjoying a new reputation as a haven amid economic collapse nationwide."

The story was the most recent in a spate of media coverage on North Dakota's job market. Other outlets have taken notice, too, including the New York Times, Fox News, CNN, Bloomberg, the Financial Times, National Public Radio, the Wall Street Journal and so on.

But all the attention isn't by accident, said North Dakota Commerce Commissioner Shane Goettle: "We always try to find a pitch that resonates with national media."

The Legislature gives the commerce department money to market North Dakota to companies and job seekers, and part of that goes to getting the national spotlight on the Peace Garden State.

And when media outlets take notice, the story goes something like this: North Dakota, a state with about 640,000 people, has the lowest unemployment in the nation at 4.2 percent, a projected $700 billion budget surplus and tax cuts. And by the way, the state reports there are 9,000 job openings waiting to be filled.

Not bad when the nation is struggling to lower its 9.4 percent unemployment rate. The worst job market in the nation is Michigan, with a 15.2 percent unemployment rate.

Goettle also notes that North Dakota has not completely avoided the pressures of the recession. The state's manufacturing sector has taken many hits, such as the most recent round of layoffs at three Bobcat plants last week.

"It's important to keep that momentum going so we could put North Dakota on the map," Goettle said.

Post this one to the fridge

CNN conducted a poll earlier this month asking Americans via phone, Facebook and e-mail how they graded their senators.

On average, Americans gave their senators a C-. The lowest-performing senators, from Nevada, Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, Illinois and Pennsylvania, got Ds.

North Dakotans, however, gave Sens. Dorgan and Kent Conrad, D-N.D., the highest grade in the poll: a B.

(Reach reporter Brian Duggan at 223-8482 or brian.duggan@bismarck tribune.com.)