While Democrats now control both the legislative and executive branches in Washington, North Dakota is a different story.

Here, the GOP controls both chambers of the Legislature and the governor's office, despite any chances Democrats in North Dakota thought they had to at least take back the state Senate.

A different story played out Tuesday night nationally. President-elect Barack Obama overwhelmingly won the White House. And in the U.S. Senate, Democrats now have a nearly cloture-proof majority with 57 seats.

Things could have been bad for North Dakota's GOP this week at the state level. Democrats made no secret about their intentions to take the state Senate. And with a 26-21 split, it was in their reach. In the end, Republicans still have a firm grip on the reins of power in North Dakota. The question now is will the North Dakota GOP make a competitive move on the federal offices in two years?

Let the speculation begin.

We may be just days out of the 2008 election and, understandably, those returning to office have little to say about their political intentions in 2010. That's the year Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan will be up for re-election and North Dakota Republican Chairman Gary Emineth said his party is already trying to make that race a competitive one.

The first GOP contender that comes to mind: Hoeven.

"I think if we have a good legislative session, there's going to be a lot of pressure on Hoeven to run against Dorgan," Emineth said. He said he didn't expect the governor to confirm whether or not he would even consider a bid for the U.S. Senate until next summer with the 2009 legislative session in the review mirror.

If Hoeven does decide to run for the Senate, he would do himself a favor by reading up on some history.

Remember the 1974 U.S. Senate race? That's when former governor William Guy, a long-serving popular governor, lost to Republican Sen. Milton Young, a long-serving popular senator, by 177 votes. Don Canton, Hoeven's spokesman, put it this way: "With the election just three days ago, the governor is squarely focused on his job and his vision for North Dakota."

Dorgan also had this to say: "I think (North Dakotans) have had a belly full of politics for a while. There'll be plenty of time to plan campaigns in the future."

Mark Jendrysik, chairman of the University of North Dakota political science department, said Hoeven is an obvious choice for the GOP to put up against Dorgan. But it won't be an easy one if he does decide to throw his hat in.

The dilemma?

"It would be a really expensive, really bruising fight," Jendrysik said. "It would be hard because Dorgan is really popular, and he's done well for the state."

Jamie Selzler, the executive director of the Democratic-NPL party, said Dorgan has done well for the state. "There's absolutely no reason for North Dakotans not to send Byron Dorgan back to office," he said.

At the end of the day, Hoeven will have to make sure his chances are good before running for federal office. "It would be an uphill fight for Hoeven," Jendrysik said. "You lose one statewide race in North Dakota, your reputation suffers a blow."

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