North Dakota may not be the most prominent state on the 2012 electoral map, but with 28 delegates up for grabs on Super Tuesday it's far from unimportant in the race for the Republican presidential nominee.
Leading up to the caucus, the state's outlook has been more than fuzzy. According to The Huffington Post's polling expert, Mark Blumenthal, the are virtually no polls in the state, and it has been unclear which GOP candidate is on top in the region.
Touting an energy-linked jobs platform, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney spoke in North Dakota at the beginning of month, hoping to rally support in the state with the nation's lowest unemployment rate, according to the Los Angeles Times. His focus was on President Barack Obama and not his Republican adversaries, as he criticized the president for rewarding campaign donors linked to the wind and solar energy industries.
Romney also largely criticized the administration's denial of a permit for the 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline, which would run through the state. North Dakota Senator John Hoeven, who is Romney's campaign chair in the state, has also been a strong proponent of the pipeline.