Former Senator Heitkamp Joins McCain Institute

The Washington, D.C., institute is part of Arizona State University and is named for the late U.S. Sen. John McCain.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) _ Former U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp has joined the board of the McCain Institute.

The Washington, D.C., institute is part of Arizona State University and is named for the late U.S. Sen. John McCain.

The nonpartisan institute champions character-driven leadership and civic engagement.

One of the areas it works on is human trafficking, a focus of Heitkamp’s.

The North Dakota Democrat lost her Senate seat to then-U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer in November in a race that helped the GOP expand its control of the Senate.

Since then she has joined CNBC as a political commentator and been named one of four Visiting Fellows by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School.