"I like debates," Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorhcak told me and co-host Chad Oban on this episode of Plain Talk.
Fedorchak has come under fire from some of her opponents in the Republican U.S. House primary. Three of them — Rick Becker, Cara Mund, and Alex Balazs — participated in a recent debate sponsored by BEK Television. Fedorchak did not. "Last weekend was a balancing act," she said, noting that she's already participated in one debate with her opponents, with two more planned. She told us that the night of the debate was also her son's graduation party.
"I wanted to devote my attention to my son on Friday night," she said.
Fedorchak also responded to a recent independent poll I reported on, which shows her in a dead heat with Becker in the race (Mund is trailing as a distant third). She said she got into the race late and had a deficit in name identification with voters but that the poll "shows that we closed the gap" with Becker.
She added that she feels confident about her position in the race. "I'm the only candidate who has consistently been a Republican," she said, referencing the fact that both Mund and Becker campaigned against Republicans as independents last cycle.
"I have strong favorability in the polling we've seen," she added.
That's something Dean Mitchell of DFM Research, who conducted the survey for North Dakota United, spoke about as well in a separate interview. Mitchell said the House race is tight but favors Fedorchak. "I'd rather not be Becker," he said. "I think he's at his ceiling. I think she (Fedorchak) has more room for growth."
"I'd give the edge to Fedorchak," he added, though he acknowledged that the race is very close. "I wouldn't put much money on it."
The NDU poll also covered the gubernatorial race, showing current U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong with a 38-point lead over Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller, a nearly identical result to numbers released to me by the Armstrong campaign from a contemporaneous poll.
"I don't want to say you can put a fork in it," Mitchell said, "but the silverware is on the table."
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