TURTLE MOUNTAIN INDIAN RESERVATION, N.D. Two days after she cast the vote that could both define and end her political career, Heidi Heitkamp was back home in North Dakota, and near tears.

On this reservation near the Canadian border on Monday, far from the drama of Washington, the women of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians had a gift for the Democratic senator.

A ribbon skirt, decorated with the colors of the rainbow, was meant to tell her grey skies would soon pass.

This is for everything youve done for us, said tribal member Cathie Gladue, presenting her with the skirt as Heitkamp began to tear up. And its especially for the stand youve recently taken. It was an honorable stand for all women, of all colors.

The stand she took choosing to believe Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when both were teenagers, and to dismiss the then-Supreme Court nominees angry denials is one Heitkamp and almost all of her supporters acknowledge has put her political career in jeopardy.

Running for re-election against Republican GOP Rep. Kevin Cramer in a state President Donald Trump won by roughly 36 percentage points, Heitkamp already was seen by analysts as the senator most likely to lose re-election. And Republicans now crow that her vote last week against Kavanaughs confirmation signed her political death warrant.

Some public polling has shown her down double digits. Democrats insist the margin is much closer.

A Heitkamp loss harms an already tough path for Democrats to a Senate majority; it likely means they need to sweep GOP-held seats in Nevada, Arizona and Tennessee to have a chance of winning Congress upper chamber. In the wake of the battle over Kavanaugh, Republican Senate candidates in red-leaning territory are running on a backlash to the Me Too movement, hoping it can expand the GOPs 51-49 majority in the Senate.

Heitkamp knows shes an underdog. And so, in an frequently emotional 48 hours after she cast the vote, as she traveled to a farm-town parade, a small-dollar fundraiser near her hometown, a panel in front of energy executives in Bismarck and finally up to this reservation, her supporters worked relentlessly to buoy the senators spirits, as she simultaneously tried to defend and move past her vote against Kavanaugh.