Plain Talk

Sandi Sanford, chair of the North Dakota Republican Party, joined this episode of Plain Talk from the GOP's national convention in Milwaukee, where, she said, "the security plan changed drastically" after the attempted assassination of the party's presidential candidate Donald Trump. Republicans have been focused on unity at this event -- two of Trump's top rivals during the primaries, Gov. Ron DeSantis and former ambassador Nikki Haley, endorsed him in speeches at the convention -- but Sanford acknowledged to my co-host Chad Oban and I that this may be a heavy lift. "People know that what we're dealing with in North Dakota with the different factions," she said, initially calling the populist wing of the party the "far right" before correcting herself and describing them as "grassroots." The NDGOP delegation to the national convention wasn't necessarily behind Gov. Doug Burgum potentially being Trump's running mate (Burgum himself was passed over for a delegate slot by the NDGOP's state convention), but Sanford said she felt the delegates were "really confident in Donald Trump and his pick" "It gets dicey," she said of intraparty politics. "It can get cruel," but Sanford said her job is to keep the factions united. "I'm bringing people together." Sanford also addressed a visit to the North Dakota delegation from Matt Schlapp of the American Conservative Union (the organization which puts on the Conservative Political Action Conference). In March, Schlapp paid a nearly half-million settlement to a man he allegedly made unwanted sexual advances toward. "My delegation wanted to hear from CPAC," she said, adding that Schlapp was "on a speaking circle" addressing several state delegations. Also on this episode, we discuss how the assassination attempt on Trump might impact the rest of this presidential election cycle, and whether Democrats will replace incumbent President Joe Biden. Want to subscribe to Plain Talk? Search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for more information.

Gov. Doug Burgum has gone through a "transformation." That's what reporter Stephen Rodrick said on this episode of Plain Talk. He spent a lot of time in North Dakota for a profile of Burgum published recently by Politico. He wrote that the governor has been "rebranding" on his way to a potential place on former President Donald Trump's national ticket. That means that Burgum has, along the arc of his political career, but a lot of different things to different people. What Rodrick found, talking to people who knew Burgum during times in his life, is that many of them feel that many who liked him in the past perhaps feel differently now. "They all had love for him at a certain point," he said, even those who today might be fairly described as Burgum's enemies. "His transformation over the past 3 or 4 months if baffling," Rodrick told my co-host Chad Oban and I. And how will Burgum be received on the national stage if he is Trumps VP pick? Rodrick thinks observers will be surprised. "They're going to be like, 'wow he really didn't want anyone who has his own level of national charisma.'" Also on this episode, Oban and I discuss April Baumgarten's story about North Dakota First Lady Katyrn Burgum's primary ballot getting rejected because of a handwriting mismatch. Burgum World isn't offering anything in the way of an explanation for why that happened, which leaves an information vacuum that could be filled with some not-so-great conclusions. Want to subscribe to Plain Talk? Search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for more information.

Senate Majority Leader David Houge, a Republican from Minot, says that if voters approve a ballot measure eliminating property taxes, state lawmakers will be left with a mess. He said that the legislature's appropriators will be tasked with making big spending cuts. He said that members of the taxation and finance committees will have to find new ways to bring in revenues. He also said that reserve funds would likely have to be tapped to make up the roughly $2.6 billion in revenues property taxes generate for local governments every budget cycle. But in 2012, voters rejected a similar ballot measure to eliminate property taxes, in part based on promises from lawmakers that they would fix the problem. My co-host, Chad Oban, asked Hogue why voters should trust them this time around. "We have tried other things that haven't necessarily worked," he said, but this time he sees more willingness from his colleagues to implement things like caps on taxation. We also spoke with Hogue about his recent letter to the editor, which he co-authored with House Majority Leader Mike Lefor (R - Dickinson), making the case for carbon capture in North Dakota. He likened the debate over the opposition to the Summit Carbon pipeline to the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, pointing out that in both instances, the opposition said the pipelines were unsafe. "The idea that the pipeline is dangerous, I reject that," he said, going on to point out that capturing and sequestering carbon in North Dakota has many benefits for the state's agriculture and energy industries, though he also acknowledged that Summy Carton Solutions, the company behind the project, has made some mistakes. "They lowballed some landowners," he said, and acknowledged that Summit may have been too aggressive in using a state statute that allows surveyors to go on private land without permission. "That was a misstep as well," he said, though he added that since Summit has "corrected" a lot of its mistakes. Want to subscribe to Plain Talk? Search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for more information.

Former state Sen. Ray Holmberg to plead guilty to federal charges related to child sex solicitation. Attorney General Drew Wrigley discusses public access to records post-guilty plea. Tensions between North Dakota and Minnesota over energy policies and carbon emissions. Political landscape analysis, Democratic Party struggles in rural America, challenges of political donors, and concerns about candidate selection at Democratic National Convention.

Chancellor Mark Hagerott and Rep. Brandy Pyle discuss phone addiction, leadership transitions, and a critique of President Biden's debate performance. The podcast covers legislative challenges, property taxes, and the importance of constructive criticism in evaluations. Transparency in public service and university dynamics are also highlighted.

The signature turn-in deadline for the committee backing a ballot measure to abolish North Dakota's tax on property value (but not, it's important to note, other types of property taxes) arrives on Saturday, June 29. The committee is expected to turn in the requisite number of signatures, which, if they pass muster, will kick off a repeat of a debate over property taxes voters here have had before. In 2012 a similar proposal to eliminate the tax on property value was put before voters, and it failed spectacularly. A coalition group calling itself Keep It Local ND rallied to persuade more than 70% of voters to cast their ballots against the measure. That coalition is back, and two of its organizers -- Andrea Pfennig from the Greater North Dakota Chamber of Commerce and my co-host Chad Oban, whose day job is with North Dakota United -- were on this episode of Plain Talk to discuss it. Their arguments against the measure? It would eliminate about $2.6 billion in revenues for local governments every budget cycle with no real plan for how to replace it. And those voters who are frustrated with the Legislature's impotence in addressing this issue should consider, they argue, that it would be that same Legislature tasked with coming up with a revenue alternative. Also on this episode, Democratic-NPL U.S. House candidate Trygve Hammer, fresh off his victory in the June primary, joined to discuss his general election campaign. He wants to make it clear to North Dakota voters that a Democrat winning a statewide vote in North Dakota is "not impossible." "I have an experience that's closer to what most North Dakotan's have experienced," he said, touting his military background and blue-collar resume. "I've been boots on the ground in the oil patch." Hammer spoke about everything from border security to foreign affairs. Of Ukraine, "Putin has to be stopped," Hammer said. "Putin is a butcher." In the middle-east, Hammer said Israel absolutely has a right to protect itself, but sees a toxic relationship between the Islamic extremists who are a threat to the Jewish state and its current leadership. "Netanyahu needs Hamas and Hamas needs Netanyahu," he said, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for more information.

North Dakota's primary elecitons this year were brutal. Attack ads and dirty tricks are endemic to politics, but I think most people would admit that, by the standards of our state, the Republican campaigns in this cycle were rough. In legislative races, we saw ads suggesting that some incumbent lawmakers promote pornography to children, or that they would be unsafe to allow your children around. In the U.S. House primary, some unknown entity supporting Rick Becker's campaign was sending out text messages trying to fool voters into thinking Julie Fedorchak, who ultimately won that race, had pulled out. And in the gubernatorial race, Tammy Miller's campaign ran ads accusing Kelly Armstrong of enriching himself by helping child molesters avoid justice. But when Armstrong appeared on this episode of Plain Talk to recap the race, he shrugged the attacks off. "You can't take these things seriously," he told me and my co-host Corey Mock. Armstrong now faces Democratic-NPL candidate Merrill Piepkorn in the general election, but we asked him, if he should win in November, what the top priorities of his administration would be. "Property taxes," he said, pointing out that consternation about those tax bills are running so high that a ballot measure to abolish them, which may appear on the November ballot as well, could well pass. "If it passes, you have a real problem," he said. Armstrong said another problem is access to labor. He said past political leaders in North Dakota have campaigned on creating jobs, but that doesn't make a lot of sense right now. "We have 30,000 open jobs," he said. "Campaigning on jobs is great...trying to figure out how to get people here to take them is a harder conversation." Also, in this episode, Mock and I discussed the seemingly intractable problem of property taxes, and what the primary election results mean for the future of the divide in the North Dakota Republican Party. Want to subscribe to Plain Talk? Search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for more information.

"We knew we wanted to stay positive and above board," Republican U.S. House nominee Julie Fedorchak said on this episode of Plain Talk. Fedorchak just emerged from a bruising competition against former state lawmaker Rick Becker and three other candidates with a resounding victory. She received nearly 50% of the vote in a five-way race. The race was a nasty one. In the final days text messages in support of Becker (thought he candidate has denied involvement) disseminated false information, including the bogus claim that Fedorchak had withdraw from the race. Fedorchak told me and co-host Chad Oban that she heard reports from poll workers saying voters were showing up thinking she wasn't still a valid candidate on the ballot. Fedorchak says her campaign plans to pursue their complaint with the Federal Election Commission over what she described as "election fraud," as well as possible legal action. That sort of campaigning is "bad for your overall cause," Fedorchak told us. "It's bad for conservatism." Also on this episode, Oban and I talk about Kelly Armstrong's resounding victory over Tammy Miller in the gubernatorial primary, as well as victories for traditional Republican candidates in legislative primaries around the state. Our conclusion? Last night, voters rejected ugly, populist, culture war campaigning, and it was an act of civic hygiene. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for more information.

Will a ballot measure putting age limits on North Dakota's congressional delegation, and printing candidate ages on the ballot, be approved by voters? Will MAGA-aligned populists gain ground against traditional Republican legislators in the North Dakota Republican party's primaries? Who will win the NDGOP's primaries for governor and U.S. House? Can Democratic-NPL candidates across the state build enough momentum to be competitive in the general election? My co-host Chad Oban and I make our predictions on this episode of Plain Talk. On our next show, on Wednesday, we'll either be gloating because we were right, or eating our hats. Want to subscribe to Plain Talk? Search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for more information.

Due to a scheduling mix-up with Attorney General Drew Wrigley -- he was coming on to discuss North Dakota's legal position in redistricting lawsuits -- this episode of Plain Talk was truncated. Still, despite the shorter show, we covered some good ground. Me and my co-host Chad Oban talked about the top election official in one of North Dakota's most populous counties winning a gift from U.S. House candidate Rick Becker's campaign. We also had Bismarck resident Lance Hagen on to discuss his FEC complaint against state Rep. Brandon Prichard and his federal political action committee Citizens Alliance of North Dakota, which has been running some wildly inaccurate ads and, Hagen alleges, may be violating federal rules on independent candidates colluding with candidates. Hagen also said he's concerned about Rep. Prichard shuffling money between political committees he's founded, arguing that money may be used for purposes the donors didn't intend. Want to subscribe to Plain Talk? Search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for more information.