The office of Superintendent of Public Instruction is a non-partisan office. Because of this, Kirsten Baesler has always sought the North Dakota Republican Party’s Letter of Support — the alternative to a party endorsement — as a means of garnering votes from the state’s dominant political apparatus. But after losing her bid for that support at the recent NDGOP State Convention, Baesler is conveniently making the effort to minimize that loss. To be fair, Baesler doesn’t have much choice. Not only did she lose, but she lost by a huge margin — 967 to 426 — to an unknown opponent named Jim Bartle ..read more

Something took place at the recent NDGOP State Convention that may well be historic. Doug Burgum, John Hoeven, Kevin Cramer, and Kelly Armstrong all fell short on votes to become delegates to the Republican National Convention. When was the last time you heard of our sitting governor, U.S. Senators, and U.S. Congressman being sent as alternates to their party’s national convention? I’m guessing this has never happened before. As a result of their not being elected as delegates, each of them fell into the category of alternates. While state party rules mandates that each of these officeholders ..read more

In some people’s minds, Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak was the frontrunner for North Dakota’s lone U.S. House seat. But in the course of just seven days, she proved that just isn’t so. In February, Fedorchak announced that she would challenge former State Representative Rick Becker for the Republican Party’s nomination to replace outgoing Congressman Kelly Armstrong (R). Armstrong, as you’re likely aware, is looking to become the next Governor of North Dakota. Becker was the first to announce his intentions to run for U.S. House. One nuance in this race is the reality that Becker ..read more

This last weekend, the party faithful for both the Republicans and Democrats in North Dakota gathered in Fargo — at separate locations of course — for their biennial state conventions. Events like these should be more consequential, but state law prohibits that from being so. How? Well, there’s this thing coming up in June that literally prohibits these private organizations from determining who represents them on the ballot in November. We all know it as the “primary”. Among the items of business on a political party’s convention agenda is the endorsement of candidates for a variety of statew ..read more

Eight years ago, State Representative Rick Becker (R – Bismarck) made an inspirational run for North Dakota governor. While Becker ultimately came in second to Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem for the party’s endorsement — who then went on to lose to current Governor Doug Burgum in the June primary — Becker’s run catapulted a movement that’s grown ever since. And that movement culminated in victories for Becker at this last weekend’s NDGOP State Convention in Fargo. While Becker is currently a Republican candidate for U.S. House, to replace the outgoing Kelly Armstrong, Article X, Rule 10 of s ..read more

Many North Dakotans have already early voted. Yet, Tuesday is our state’s Primary Election. When it comes to legislative and state-wide races, it’s actually a nomination process, not an election. Technically the election happens in November. Semantics I suppose. Unless you’re completely disconnected from statewide politics — in which case I’d really prefer you not be voting — then you’ve probably heard about Governor Doug Burgum using his wealth in an effort to defeat conservatives. Not only have major news outlets in the state covered the issue, but it’s even drawn national attention. Why? Be ..read more

The former campaign manager to Senator John Hoeven that I’m referring to is Pat Finken. The same Pat Finken whose name appears as Chair to an organization known as Brighter Future Alliance at the bottom of so many annoying political mailers. And to be perfectly clear— No, Pat Finken is not a pedophile. You may now be asking yourself why we even asked the question then. Well, in the world of social media headlines, we call that headline clickbait or satire. From the political side of things, I simply want to raise awareness of the type of pathetic tactics that Finken himself is using to campaig ..read more

Yesterday I wrote about Robbie Lauf— a former advisor to Governor Doug Burgum who was named as Director of Partnerships and Programming for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation back in February. You can read the article here, but in a nutshell Lauf recently had a silly and sophomoric text exchange with District 35 Republican’s endorsed state senate candidate, Ryan Eckroth. The exchange shows Lauf hasn’t matured much in the 6 1/2 years since he mocked a handicapped UND fan on social media. Not only does Lauf’s behavior reflect negatively on him, but it certainly doesn’t do Go ..read more

Two years ago, we were the first to make the detailed connections between Governor Doug Burgum and the Dakota Leadership PAC. Burgum was using this PAC to campaign against conservative candidates in the 2020 June primary. As illustrated by the Bismarck Tribune, Fargo Forum, and KFYR, he’s at it again in 2022 as well. Even The Hill gave Burgum’s unprecedented move national attention recently. When this all started, back in 2020, we revealed that Governor Burgum was using former staffers to run Dakota Leadership PAC. Chief among them was Robert “Robbie” Lauf. Lauf has a long history with Burgum ..read more

Five years ago I wrote about the Bismarck City Commission denying a resident the opportunity to build a home on her own property. It was a despicable move. One that was reversed just two years later when some new faces were put on the Bismarck City Commission. That property owner was Bismarck native Anne Cleary. The same Anne Cleary who is now running for Bismarck City Commission herself. On the surface, it certainly appears this is one of those situations where a citizen — as a result of their own experience — sees a need to get involved in local politics via becoming a candidate themselves ..read more