Free Republic

A point I often make is that Donald Trump’s travails were not because of Democrats. Instead, they were because of Republicans. Had the Republicans supported him, the past seven years would have been very different. And if you doubt that Republicans are a problem, just check out how the Republicans in North Dakota’s legislature vote. When Democrat voters cast their ballots for a Democrat candidate, they know what they’re getting: Someone who will reliably vote in lockstep with Democrat party leadership, whether that leadership comes from the White House or Congress, and whose votes will invariably hew left. That’s not...

DES MOINES, Iowa — As Democratic presidential candidates descended on the Iowa State Fair, a plane buzzed overhead, an ominous warning fluttering behind it on a banner: “Focus on Rural America.” Democrats hoping to win the White House in 2020 recognize how critical that advice is after 2016, when Hillary Clinton turned in strong performances in many cities and suburbs but lost rural voters 2-to-1, falling short to President Donald Trump by slim margins in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Democrats clawed back some gains in rural counties in the 2018 midterm elections, and they want to build on that...

FARGO – About three dozen people have been treated for medical issues outside Scheels Arena here, where crowds have been lined up all day on Wednesday, June 27, for an evening rally and speech by President Donald Trump. Deputy Police Chief Joe Anderson said emergency responders have treated several people for dehydration and heat exhaustion, and another person for diabetic complications. The temperature in Fargo just before 4 p.m. was in the upper 80s. Anderson said none of the medical issues appeared to be serious. Scheels Arena opened its doors just before 4 p.m. and Forum reporter Kim Hyatt, who...

Senators Joe Manchin and Heidi Heitkamp on Thursday became the first Democrats to support the confirmation of President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, giving Republicans two of eight Democratic votes needed to avoid a nasty fight on the U.S. Senate floor next week. Both West Virginia's Manchin and North Dakota's Heitkamp are up for re-election next year in states that voted for Trump in the 2016 presidential election. "I hold no illusions that I will agree with every decision Judge Gorsuch may issue in the future, but I have not found any reasons why this jurist should not...

My Democratic Party believes there is man-made climate change. My Democratic Party believes in science. My Democratic Party believes in protecting the environment. On February 17, 2017 two Democratic United States Senators voted for a man who is a climate denier, a science denier and a destroyer of the environment to head The Environmental Protection Agency. For that alone, Joe Manchin and Heidi Heitkamp must be “primaried” in 2018 and we should start finding qualified, principled, Progressive candidates in their states today who can take them on and represent true Democratic values in Congress. I don’t care that West Virginia...

There is a reasonable chance that two more Democrat Senate seats could be lost to the GOP when the next Congress convenes.

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) - John Trandem wanted to be the delegate who would put Donald Trump over the top, giving him enough delegates to clinch the Republican presidential nomination.</p> <p>But when he was contacted by an Associated Press reporter, the AP delegate count stood at 1,235 - two delegates short.</p>

“Cruz was the earliest to organize here and unquestionably had the deepest connections on the ground. His top local organizer, Bette Grande, has been supporting him for months, dating back to when Cruz’s father, Rafael Cruz, came to her house last September during a North Dakota campaign swing.” How do you not love this? Literally eight months ago, he was already having his father campaign in North Dakota. And not just doing events, but going to the house of top local organizers in, again, not Iowa, not New Hampshire, not South Carolina, but North Dakota. And it’s not like Ted...

FARGO – An already unconventional election season is bringing an unusual phenomenon to North Dakota politics: significant national attention. Correspondents from national media outlets such as CNN and the Washington Post arrived in Fargo for the state Republican convention this weekend, where the three presidential campaigns are making a push for delegates friendly to their candidates to be sent to Cleveland for the national convention in July. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz made the biggest splash Saturday by delivering the keynote address that afternoon. Carly Fiorina, a former presidential candidate who supports Cruz, mingled with convention attendees Friday night at the...

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, locked in a fierce Republican Party presidential nomination fight, will fire up the North Dakota GOP faithful with a speech at this weekend’s state party convention in Fargo and make his play for the state’s unbound national delegates. Cruz will be the main keynote speaker of the convention, speaking at about 1 p.m. Saturday at Scheels Arena in Fargo. Party officials expect more than 1,800 delegates at the convention. “We’re just really excited that the presidential candidates are interested and having a presidential candidate able to speak,” North Dakota Republican Party Chairman Kelly Armstrong said. The...

I want my money back. Last October, I gave $2,500 to support Heidi Heitkamp’s campaign to become North Dakota’s junior senator. A few weeks later, she won a surprise victory. I have had a long career in government and politics, but I don’t donate heavily to political campaigns. When I contribute, it’s because I know the candidate well or am really impressed with the person. Heidi Heitkamp was one of the latter: She struck me as strong-willed, principled and an independent thinker. But this week, Heitkamp betrayed those hopes. She voted to block legislation to make gun background checks more...

North Dakota’s House race saw several debates between the half-dozen candidates pre-convention, but now that the field has been narrowed to two candidates for the primary election I thought it would be useful to have them sit down and engage one another again. Both Kevin Cramer and Brian Kalk were gracious enough to join me for what was supposed to be 30 minutes of questions and discussions but turned out to be more like an hour. Here’s the result: For all the rancor that some perceive as surrounding this race, both candidates were very cordial and agreed on most things...

FreedomWorks announced its support for three upstart Republican House candidates today, pitting the conservative grass-roots group against local elected officials in each state. The group endorsed Public Service Commissioner Kevin Cramer in North Dakota’s at-large seat; Lewis County Judge Executive Thomas Massie in Kentucky’s 4th district; and former state Sen. Sam Aanestad in California’s 1st district. All three candidates are running in open-seat races. FreedomWorks’ support is notable because it’s backing the underdogs in each race and, in one case, going against the state party’s endorsement. In North Dakota, the state GOP endorsed Public Service Commissioner Brian Kalk at its...

The Washington Post has put North Dakota atop its list of “The 10 House districts that might surprise you.” The report today aims to showcase 10 House races that are “surprisingly competitive” in an election year, where not only is partisan control at stake but where redistricting has changed the game for seats across the country. North Dakota is the only state on the list where redistricting wasn’t a factor in the competitive nature of its House race. (North Dakota is a single at-large district, so there is no redistricting here.) Republican Rep. Rick Berg won North Dakota’s House seat...

Republicans rallied behind Public Service Commissioner Brian Kalk at their annual convention over the weekend, giving him their endorsement in the race for the open, at-large House seat. After three rounds of ballots, Kalk obtained more than a majority of delegates — 929 votes — to win his party’s official support over a crowded field. Republican hopefuls traditionally abide by the GOP convention’s endorsement. This weekend, almost every other GOP House contender dropped out of the race prior to Kalk’s acceptance speech, including state Rep. Bette Grande, state Rep. Kim Koppelman, former Commerce Commissioner Shane Goettle and businessman DuWayne Hendrickson....

FARGO, ND - All signs point to “yes” for a Sarah Palin Presidential run in 2012, according to North Dakota’s Concerned Women for America State Director Janne Mrydal. Appearing on the Scott Hennen Show earlier today, Myrdal weighed in one of the most intriguing political questions surrounding the GOP debate and its current crop of candidates… will former Alaska governor Sarah Palin throw her hat in the ring as a future Presidential hopeful? “I’m pretty convinced. The way she’s talking, in Iowa, in New Hampshire…I just can’t see she’s doing what she’s doing unless she’s getting in” Mrydal said. Myrdal...

Longtime state Rep. Rick Berg (R) will be North Dakota Republican's standard bearer in the race against Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.). The state party endorsed Berg over Kevin Cramer, chairman of the North Dakota Public Service Commission, and two other GOP contenders at its convention in Grand Forks, N.D. on Saturday afternoon. Cramer, Berg's main rival for the nomination, has already said he would not run in the primary if he did not win the party endorsement. Berg, the former state House Majority Leader, led Pomeroy in Rasmussen Reports poll conducted in early February, which may have helped him convince...

North Dakota Republican state legislators and officials have had no better luck than anyone else in prodding Gov. John Hoeven for hints about whether he'll run against Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan next year. Four GOP lawmakers who raised the subject in a meeting with Hoeven in his Capitol office last week said the governor gave them no hints about his plans, although one participant said he believes Hoeven will make the race. "I think he feels a responsibility to do it," said Rep. Craig Headland, R-Montpelier. "Maybe I'm a little optimistic in my thinking, but I do believe he's giving...

The chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party is vowing to let Gov. John Hoeven (R) know just how much his constituents want him in the Senate. But although GOP chairman Gary Emineth will have an uphill climb to convince Hoeven, serving his third term, to take on Sen. Byron Dorgan (D), who will seek his fourth term next year, the governor has made comments lately indicating he has not completely slammed the door on challenging the Democrat. Asked by The Associated Press whether he would enter the race, Hoeven said he concurred with Emineth's hope of recruiting candidates by...

Matt Mechtel still plans to do some farming this summer while he's running for Congress. But he'll have a cell phone and a laptop in his tractor cab, and will rely on its automated guidance system for help in steering. North Dakota Republicans picked Mechtel, a rural Cass County resident who has never sought political office, on Sunday as their candidate to run against U.S. Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D. Mechtel defeated state Rep. Duane DeKrey, R-Pettibone, by 15 votes, 270 to 255.