Who Is Heidi Heitkamp's Husband? New Details On Darwin Lange

He's been a family doctor for over 30 years.

By Samantha Maffucci — Written on Oct 22, 2018

Photo: getty

Though North Dakota is usually known as a red state, Senator Heidi Heitkamp recently drew criticism from citizens of the very state she represents by choosing to vote “no” on Brett Kavanaugh. Heitkamp was first elected to the Senate in 2013, where she became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from her state. Before that, she was the North Dakota Attorney General and unsuccessfully ran for Governor.

Ever since she decided to vote “no” based on her belief that Kavanaugh did assault Christine Blasey Ford, she has been failing in the polls. But that wasn’t enough to deter her. In fact, she knew full well what her “no” vote would mean.

In an interview with 60 Minutes, she said, “My judgment on her experience is based on a lot of experience working with domestic assault victims, domestic violence victims... And the experiences that have been shared over and over in my time as attorney general and now coming to the Senate as people have described their experience, and for me it does not appear that he’s somebody who should be given a lifetime appointment to the most important court in the world.”

Being in the spotlight during such an important election year is certainly not easy to deal with. But what does her family think about all this? Who is Heidi Heitkamp’s husband and does he play a role in shaping her political views? Here are 5 things to know about Darwin Lange.

1. He’s a family practitioner.

After graduating from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Lange completed a residency at University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Since 1985, he’s worked at Sanford North Medicine Clinic, the “largest rural health care system” in North Dakota.

2. They met in college.

Lange was a friend of Heitkamp’s roommate, and the two didn’t quite hit it off at first. In fact, when they did meet, he criticized her artistic abilities! Well, that’s one way to win a woman’s heart. Over time, they got to know each other better and married a few years later.

3. They have two children.

The couple have two grown children: daughter Alethea, and son Nathan. They reside in Mandan, ND.

4. They are Catholic.

Out of all the Senators currently serving, only 24 are Catholics, and Heitkamp is one of them. However, while people often assume that Catholicism is associated with Conservatism, Heitkamp is a moderate Democrat who is socially liberal and fiscally conservative.

5. He has a very calm temperament.

Heitkamp herself has described her husband as a “shy farm boy” who “doesn’t like the limelight.” But even though he’s calm, cool and collected, he’s also very intelligent. Heitkamp says that her husband’s patients love him, and over the years he’s become much more personable.