Plain Talk

As someone who has worked as a reporter in this state for more than two decades, who has broken a very large number of stories based on records requested from various government entities, I know a thing or two about North Dakota open records laws. When a prosecutor says that criminal charges can't be brought in a case where a staffer ordered the deletion of the emails of a deceased state official -- explicitly stating that the deletion was so that members of the public couldn't request them -- because it's not clear that emails are considered a government record in state law, I can't help but feel there are shenanigans afoot. My co-host Chad Oban and I discussed the matter on this episode of Plain Talk. Also on this episode, David Banks, a climate policy advisor to former President Donald Trump joined to discuss the Prove It Act. This bipartisan legislation, sponsored by North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer, would begin to collect data on the environmental impacts of American-made products. The goal is to develop trade policy that takes into account the difference in environmental standards between America and the countries it trades with. It's one thing to set environmental standards for American companies making goods and providing services from within our borders, but what good are those standards when companies operating in other countries, like China or India, who do not meet our standards, can undercut American companies? American companies should absolutely have to compete with companies in other countries. That's good for Americans, and good for the world. But American companies shouldn't have to compete against companies can abuse the environment, and their labor forces, in aways that are proscribed by our laws. Want to subscribe to Plain Talk? Search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for more information.

We talk a lot about political leaders and activists who do stupid things. Ugly things. Cynical and self-serving things. But what about those who are standing up for what's right? On this episode of Plain Talk, co-host Chad Oban and I discussed Sec. of State Michael Howe, North Dakota's top election official who has, despite the partisan pressures coming from his office, has maintained that the 2020 election was not stolen, and has consistently defended the integrity of North Dakota's voting process. Also, on this episode, we discuss the chair of the North Dakota Republican Party is slamming Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller for not bringing her gubernatorial campaign to the party's state convention, the politicians on the North Dakota Industrial Commission approving a controversial contract to market carbon capture that pays a talk radio host who also covers said politicians, the upcoming presidential primary vote, and what it will take for the depressing political trends we're all living through to change. Want to subscribe to Plain Talk? Search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for more information.

Rep. Scott Louser, a Republican from Minot who also recently announced a campaign for the local school board, has a big proposal aimed at school funding and North Dakota's seemingly intractable property tax problem. He has organized it into a draft bill for the 2025 legislative session. But does that mean he thinks a proposed ballot measure to abolish property taxes won't pass? "Dr. Becker is leading the charge and also running for Congress," Louser told my co-host Chad Oban and I on this episode of Plain Talk. He's referring to former state lawmaker Rick Becker, a Bismarck plastic surgeon organizing the petition drive behind that measure who has also announced a campaign for the U.S. House. Louser seems skeptical about Becker keeping his eye on the ball. "I don't know if it gets on the ballot," Louser, who has endorsed Becker's House campaign, told us. "I don't know if it passes." Louser says his proposal, which would increase state-level funding for schools in exchange for caps on mill levies, is not intended to "derail" Becker's proposal. Louser's draft bill, which you can read below, also includes new funding for private schools. Also on this episode, we discuss gubernatorial candidate Tammy Miller's decision to skip local NDGOP party events in the early days of her campaign -- we're not sure we understand the strategy -- as well as the controversy surrounding the departure of a prominent supporter of Miller's rival in that race from Gov. Doug Burgum's administration. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for more information.

No, the Republican presidential primary is not over yet. And yes, North Dakotans, you will have a chance to vote in it and make a difference. Bob Harms, who is running the NDGOP's presidential caucuses, joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss the process. He talked about how to vote, and where to vote, and how those votes will be counted and reported. You can click here for more information. Joining me as co-host on this episode is Michael Bell, host of Dakota Talk, which airs out of Bismarck on KFYR AM550 from 9-11 am on weekdays. Michael and I talked about the national presidential primary, the Republican gubernatorial primary between Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller and U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong, and the Republican House primary between Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak, former state Rep. Rick Becker, and former state Sen. Tom Campbell. Want to be notified when new episodes of Plain Talk are published? Search for the show and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for a full listing of episodes, and information on how to subscribe on specific platforms.

Why did Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak opt to run for the United States Hosue of Representatives? "I don't like the state of our country," she told me and my co-host Chad Oban on this episode of Plain Talk. Fedorchak is a long-time member of the policy-intensive PSC, and thinks she can take what she learned from administering the complicated to the point of being arcane regulatory process around things like pipelines and transmission lines to Congress. "This is what we do," she said of her work on the commission. "We work through controversial issues." She said her energy expertise, in particular, could be useful in Washington were she said there is a "fundamental lack of understanding" of that policy area. "We're basically committing energy suicide in our country," she said, noting America's abundant resources. "There is no reason we should ever run short." Fedorchak said she'd also like to help move the nation's budgeting process out of the grips of two-year election cycles toward a longer-term commitment to an 8 to 10 year plan. She also said there needs to be a "return to order" on the border, and a focus in general on "policy" instead of "personalities." As for other hot-button policy areas, Fedorchak declined to say whether she would have voted for the recent bipartisan budget bill that was tanked by Republicans at the behest of former President Donald Trump -- she said she didn't know enough about it -- and added that while she's pro-life, she thinks the federal government should leave the abortion issue to the states, and that Congress should focus more on policies that "help women choose life." Also on this episode, incumbent state Rep. Jon Nelson, a Republican, joined to discuss why he and his fellow District 14 incumbents opted to skip their party's local endorsing convention. He decried an "eat your own" mentality in the NDGOP today. "We don't have a discussion," he said. "We're preached to." He also had some sharp words for some of his fellow Republican lawmakers, like Minot Rep. Dan Ruby and Bismarck Rep. Brandon Prichard, who funding and managing efforts to target Republican incumbents like himself. He accused Prichard, specifically, of spreading false information about his votes. "Unlike Rep. Prichard, I actually care about being accurate," he said. Nelson added that he's choosing to seek another term in the House because "as long as I'm able to make a difference, I want to try." To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for more information.

Me and my co-host Chad Oban took a break from guests on this episode of Plain Talk to spend some to talk through some of the headlines in North Dakota. We discussed the Republican primary races. With Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller in the gubernatorial race with U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong, and Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak in the U.S. House race with former state lawmakers Rick Becker and Tom Campbell, the stage seems set. It doesn't seem like we're likely to get any more candidates in those races. But how will they play out? We made some predictions, one being that we're all about to be inundated with political advertising, particularly from candidates in the gubernatorial race. Also on this episode, we spent some time talking about the death of Russian political dissident Alexei Navalny, the antics of Putin apologist Tucker Carlson, the inability of 2020 election conspiracy theorists to make their case in court, the legal battle over the costs of responding to the violent protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, and how that all ties in to this ignoble moment in North Dakota politics. Want to subscribe to Plain Talk? Search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for more information. Also, if you listen to the show on platforms like Apple Podcasts or Spotify which allow you to leave a rating or review, please give us an honest one. We appreciate it.

Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller has announced her campaign for governor. She'll be taking on U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong in the Republican primary. Asked, on this episode of Plain Tal, how she's different from Armstrong, she touted her business background. "I'm a proven business leader," she said, referencing the 14 years she spent leading Border States Electric, the Fargo-based electrical distributor and one of the largest companies in the country in that category. This was perhaps telegraphing what will be an early talking point deployed by Miller's campaign against Armstrong, who has served in elected office -- first the state Legislature, then Congress -- since 2013. Miller seems eager to contrast that time in politics with her private sector experience. Asked by my co-host Chad Oban why she wants to be governor, Miller said she'd like to "continue the great momentum" of Gov. Doug Burgum's administration. Miller talked about growing up in small town North Dakota (she's from Brocket, population 34), and working at her family's retail business. Sometimes defending it, too. "We were often robbed," she said. "We would protect our store with shotguns until the Ramsey County Sheriff showed up." Her early campaign messaging leans heavily into culture war topics with the candidate vowing to fight "woke" left-wing activists and the "socialist" administration of President Joe Biden. But, as governor, Burgum was more moderate than that on social issues. When asked about that, Miller said that while she was glad the Legislature took up some of those issues during previous campaigns, she was hoping to see a focus more on economic policy areas in coming sessions. But she is leaning hard on her support for former President Donald Trump and his bid for a second term in the White House. A campaign ad released along with her announcement touts Trump heavily. Asked why she felt it was important for her to endorse Trump for president hours after Burgum announced he wasn't seeking a third term, she said it's because "Donald is the best person to lead our country." To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for more information.

"Republicans understandably and rightly believe that border security is important for our national security," U.S. Senate candidate Katrina Christiansen told me and co-host Chad Oban on this episode of Plain Talk. Wanting a secure border is "absolutely paramount if you're going to be a real leader," she added. I want to stress, at this juncture, that Christiansen is a Democrat. She's challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer. You don't normally hear Democrats talk about the border this way -- acknowledging that it's a crisis, calling for a crackdown on illegal crossings -- but Christiansen is going there. She says she's "frustrated" by President Joe Biden who, she argues, "had an opportunity in the first two years" to address the border but didn't. Christiansen understands that she's a Democrat challenging a Republican incumbent in a Republican leaning state, but, pointing to Republicans tanking a get-tough border bill seemingly at the behest of former President Donald Trump and his short-term political interests, she says "our current leadership isn't working." "Kevin Cramer is very good at identifying problems -- and I mean this sincerely -- and he's good at assigning blame," Christiansen said. But where he's lacking is taking the next step, and getting to solutions. Christiansen also talked about what she learned from her losing campaign for the U.S. Senate from last cycle, where she got nearly 25% of the vote in a three-way race against incumbent Sen. John Hoeven. Also on this episode, Oban and I talk about President Joe Biden's age issues, which are making headlines thanks to a special counsel's report on his handling of classified information, as well as some of the weirdness around U.S. House candidate Rick Becker's campaign, whether another Republican is going to join that race, and whether Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller will eventually announce a run for governor against Rep. Kelly Armstrong, who is already in that race. Want to subscribe to Plain Talk? Search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for more information.

Chris Berg says that he once had a boss, when he was a talk radio host for AM1100 "The Flag" in Fargo, who told him that he was supposed to be infuriating his audience. "You gotta get people angry," Berg says he was told (he said people will think he was talking about host Scott Hennen, but that it was someone else). In addition to talk radio, Berg was the host of the politically-themed 6:30 Point of View on Valley News Live in Fargo for nearly a decade, and he often succeeded in making his audience angry. Berg has moved on from the media industry — he is now working in commercial real estate in California — and he has some regrets. "Turn off the TV and talk radio," he now says, despite working in those media for more than a decade. "Take off the red or blue glasses and challenge yourself," he added. "I felt like I was dragging myself to the microphone," Berg told me on this episode of Plain Talk. He said that shortly after he moved to California, news broke of a school shooting in Tennessee, and despite the awful news, he felt a sense of relief that he wouldn't have to spend hours having the same old shout fest about it without anything meaningful getting done. "The sad thing about the media business is the more anger and hate you sow, the more money you make," he said. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for more information.

MINOT — Sen. Kevin Cramer is vexed by some of his fellow Republicans who want to kill a tax bill, and an immigration deal, lest they be seen accomplishing anything that might be perceived by voters as an accomplishment for incumbent Republican Joe Biden. "That frustrates me," told me and my co-host Chad Oban on this episode of Plain Talk. On the immigration bill, specifically, Cramer said Biden is under more fire from his left flank than Republicans are from the left. "He's taking more crap for this than we are," he said. We also asked Cramer about the competitive primaries North Dakota Republicans have for open gubernatorial and U.S. House races. "My political action committee, my leadership PAC, will be participating," Cramer said, though he made it clear he isn't picking a side just yet. He said he didn't run for office "so I can be neutral." He praised Armstrong for getting into the gubernatorial race quickly after Burgum announced he wouldn't be seeking a third term. "He could lock out the crowd," he said, adding that Armstrong's early advantages in the race "may be weighing" on Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller's own decision on whether or not to seek that office. As for the House race? Cramer said he "loves" both former state Rep. Rick Becker, and former state Sen. Tom Campbell, but also said, "I don't think that field is filled yet." "I think there's room in our party for another candidate in that race," he added. He said the chaos in the Republican House caucus may be giving some potential candidates pause. "I'm starting to wonder why anyone wants the job." Also on this episode, Scott Schofield, an Air Force veteran from Grand Forks, talks about his campaign for the state House in District 18, where he's taking on Democratic-NPL incumbent Rep. Corey Mock. In his campaign announcement, Schofield said there are "many of our elected leaders are more focused on fighting culture wars than in working together to address the problems facing our state." "I also think there are a lot of Republican voters who don't want to hear that," he said when we asked him about the statement. He said he considered running for the Legislature as a Democrat, but ultimately chose to campaign as a Republican because he feels he more consistently lines up with the NDGOP's platform. "I'm fiscally conservative," he said, though he added that not everything in that platform is to his liking. "The part that really chapped me is there is an entire chapter that is against the LGBTQ community," he said. "That hurts my heart," he added. Schofield also described himself as "pro-choice" and said he opposes North Dakota's near-total ban on abortions, which is currently being litigated in the courts, though he said he would consider certain a ban on abortion after a certain number of weeks. Want to subscribe to Plain Talk? Search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for more information.