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Byron Leslie Dorgan (born May 14 1942) is a United States Senator from North Dakota. He is a member of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL, the North Dakota affiliate of the Democratic Party.
Born in Dickinson, North Dakota, Dorgan earned a B.S. from the University of North Dakota in 1964 and an M.B.A. from the University of Denver in 1966. He served as tax commissioner of North Dakota from 1969 until 1980, when he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, of which he was a member from 1981 until 1992, being reelected every two years.
In 1992 he ran for the Senate when the Democratic incumbent, Kent Conrad did not run. Dorgan won the election. He took office a few weeks early, in December 1992, when the governor appointed him to fill the rest of the term of Conrad, who had won a special election to fill the rest of the term of deceased senator Quentin Burdick. Dorgan was reelected in 1998 and is a candidate in the U.S. Senate election, 2004.
He is featured in Michael Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, where he discusses the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.