Byron Leslie Dorgan is an American author, businessman and former politician who served as a United States Representative (1981–1992) and United States Senator (1992–2011) from North Dakota. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

The 2010 United States Senate election in North Dakota took place on November 2, 2010, alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan announced in January 2010 that he would not seek reelection, leading to the first open seat election since 1992. Governor John Hoeven won the seat in a landslide, taking 76.1% of the vote, sweeping every county in the state, and becoming North Dakota's first Republican senator since 1987. Hoeven's 54 point margin of victory was a dramatic and historic shift from the previous election for this seat, when Dorgan won reelection in a 36 point landslide and himself swept every county in the state.