"I've been an outside viewer," Dustin McNally, a Republican candidate for the state Senate in Grand Forks-area District 42, said on this episode of Plain Talk. "I haven't really liked what I've seen.

McNally was speaking about what he's been seeing from North Dakota's Legislature. "It's a lot of negative news. It's a lot of changes in the Republican party, and not for the better," he said.

"I feel like they're not working for me," he added. "I feel like they're working for themselves."

"People are fed up, he continued."

McNally says he'd like to see more focus on pragmatic issues, and less on dramatic culture war topics. "I'm a frugal, fiscally conservative person," he said. "I'm not a headline grabber."

Also on this episode, me and co-host Chad Oban talk about the ominous silence coming from Epic Companies, a West Fargo-based company with projects in just about all of North Dakota's major communities that is widely rumored to be in distress but isn't being forthcoming with information.

We also discussed the state of the Republican U.S. House primary, and how certain legislative races around the state may impact North Dakota's balance of political power.

To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for more information.