MINOT -- To avoid any confusion from this column, I must first explain that in North Dakota, a political party's endorsement isn't the same thing as the party's nomination.
Traditionally, the Democrats and the Republicans (and sometimes third parties, when they're active) hold a state convention in the spring of every election year. Those conventions issue endorsements for candidates. Under state law, the parties can notify the Secretary of State's office about who their convention-endorsed candidates are, and those candidates are placed on the June primary ballot automatically. Others interested in competing for a party's nomination can put their name on the June ballot through a petition process.
All of the candidates who win on the June ballot are considered the party nominees; they advance to the November general election ballot.
What I can now report is that most of the Republican incumbents currently holding statewide office will not be seeking the NDGOP's endorsement at the party's state convention later this month. The party's filing deadline to participate in the endorsement process came and went over the weekend.
"I did not," Rep. Julie Fedorchak told me when I asked if she'd filed. "I'm focusing the bulk of my time doing the hard work North Dakotans elected me to do. We've accomplished a lot but have much more to do -- from finishing the Farm Bill to funding DHS! As far as the campaign goes, I've been a strong teammate for President Trump's pro-energy, pro-border security agenda," she continued. "That's why he readily endorsed my re-election campaign and North Dakotans are already rallying behind us again. I will be focusing my time and resources on the only way to be the Republican candidate in the general election and that's by winning the June 9 primary."
Attorney General Drew Wrigley indicated the same. "I'm taking my candidacy to the entire Republican and conservative electorate in the primary," he told me.
"I did not file to seek the convention endorsement," Secretary of State Michael Howe told me. "I attended as many district conventions as I could and heard over and over again that folks are choosing to not attend the convention. I'll be seeking the Republican nomination at the primary election."
Though the race is officially nonpartisan, traditionally candidates for superintendent of public schools seek an endorsement from the political parties. Levi Bachmeier is a Republican -- he's the former chair of the party's District 13 committee -- but he also said he's not seeking the state party's endorsement. "I'm focused on talking to all voters," he said. "I'm choosing to do that at basketball tournaments and venues all across the state." Bachmeier was appointed to finish Kirsten Baesler's term in office after she took a job in the Trump administration last year. Baesler was reelected to a fourth term in 2024.
Public Service Commissioner Sheri Haugen-Hoffart told me "I did not file to seek the state convention endorsement and will instead appear on the ballot in the Primary Election where I will seek the Republican nomination."
Haugen-Hoffart's colleague on the Commission, Jill Kringstad, also indicated she's skipping the convention. "I've been on the road meeting with many Republicans across the state," she said. "That will continue to be my focus: earning the support of Republicans in the June primary and our entire state in the November general election."
"To answer your question, I did not file," Tax Commissioner Brian Kroshus told me.
Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring also said he didn't not file. "I've been attending many district meetings and very few people are going," he said. "I've chosen to run in the primary and seek the endorsement as the Republican agriculture commissioner candidate."
Though he's not on the ballot, Gov. Kelly Armstrong is also on the record saying he won't be attending, indicating he'll be at a friend's wedding. Perhaps tellingly, his office has also indicated the NDGOP didn't bother to run the convention dates by him.
All told, this is a serious hit for the NDGOP, not just symbolically -- it's never a good look for your own candidates to avoid your convention -- but financially. Under the rules the party has operated in past cycles, statewide candidates must donate a fee to the party to seek the nomination. Candidates for governor and U.S. Senate paid $5,000 each, congressional candidates pay $3,500, and statewide executive branch candidates pay $2,500 each.
Not only will the NDGOP not be collecting those fees from these candidates, but they won't be receiving any convention dues from the delegates those candidates might have recruited to attend the party's event in Minot. Attendance was already expected to be way down compared to previous conventions -- I've heard rumors the party has cut its printing order down to fit 500 attendees, which would suggest they're expecting less than that -- and this won't help.
Why is this happening? A candidate or two choosing to skip a party convention for tactical reasons isn't unusual, but the full slate of statewide candidates opting out sure is. Party leadership has been taken over by populist activists who are, in many ways, hostile to the sort of Republicans who have been winning elections in North Dakota for generations. Party Chair Matthew Simon is of this faction, and the first actions the party took after his election last year was to issue two censures for Armstrong, who had just won election with nearly 70% of the statewide vote. This rancor between factions of the NDGOP has been brewing for years, but now it seems to be coming to a head.
There's also been some controversy over the chosen speakers for the event. One speaker is Minnesota U.S. Senate candidate Royce White, who is perhaps best known for using campaign funds for all sorts of inappropriate things, including a visit to a strip club. Joining him as a speaker is talk radio host Steve Deace, who called President Joe Biden's 2020 election win "a coup" and referred to the COVID-19 vaccines as a "depopulation scheme."
How will the party and the delegates who do attend the convention handle this situation?
There are some rule changes under consideration that give us an inkling. One proposed rule change for a March 14 meeting of the party's governing State Committee would get rid of the candidate fees. Another would state that the party isn't required to endorse any candidates. I've also heard that they are considering allowing potential candidates to nominated from the floor of the convention itself. Something that's not clear, though, is if those rule changes could be made retroactive to cover an endorsement process that's already begun.
Party insiders I spoke to weren't sure about that.
If those rule changes happen, they would give the party some options, and it will be interesting to see which they choose. Will they simply ignore the fact that their incumbent candidates aren't in attendance? Will they endorse a competing slate of candidates? Or will they simply endorse all the incumbents in absentia?
That last option gets a little complicated given that Fedorchak has a challenger in Alex Balazs.
Balazs beat out Fedorchak for the 2024 convention endorsement, thanks to the machinations of populist activists, though he went on to get just 4% of the vote in the June primary. Fedorchak, for her part, went on to the November ballot after an easy win in the primary, and earned more votes than any other candidate in a competitive race, including Donald Trump.
At least one of the PSC candidates has an announced challenger, too. Deven Styczynski, a far-right candidate affiliated with the Sons of Liberty, has announced a campaign for Haugen-Hoffart's seat on the PSC.
If Styczynski and Balazs are running unopposed for the convention endorsement, they'll obviously get it by default, though it’s not clear that the endorsement means anything. Again, Balazs was the endorsed candidate in 2024, and he came in a distant fourth place in a five-way primary. That same convention endorsed Christian home schooling activist Jim Bartlett over incumbent Superintendent Kirsten Baesler, and he took third in the primary, while Baesler cruised to an easy reelection.
The pragmatic thing to do, as a way to paint over this chasm between the party and its candidates, would be to endorse the incumbents who aren't there by default, and the challengers who are, but the people running the NDGOP these days aren't pragmatic people. Remember, one of the rules changes under consideration for the party is one that would allow them to rescind endorsements from candidates for being insufficiently loyal to the party. Another would allow the party to levy $100,000 fines against candidates and incumbents who aren't following the party platform.
I suspect the attitude toward the incumbents who are skipping the convention will be hostility, but we'll find out later this month.