In North Dakota, the 2026 election cycle isn't really going to be about whether our state is governed by Republicans or Democrats. It's going to be about which type of Republicans hold the majority.

So far, the state's traditional Republicans have been successful in holding the line against a rising tide of populists invigorated by the Trump era, but the populists have managed to capture control of key leadership positions within the NDGOP. They hold a slim majority of district chairs, which in turn has allowed them to elect one of their own as state party chair.

The populists will likely endorse their preferred candidates at the party's local and statewide conventions. The tradional, normie Republicans will mostly take their case to the voters on the June primary ballot.

District 3, in Minot, may well be key ground in this battle. The state House incumbents here are Rep. Jeff Hoverson and Rep. Lori VanWinkle, two bible-thumping religious zealots who are notorious for promoting culture war issues and little else. They face a challenge from Tim Mihalick and Blaine DesLauriers, who say they'd like to go to Bismarck to support Gov. Kelly Armstrong's agenda.

"I really like what Governor Armstrong has brought to the table," DesLauriers said on this episode of Plain Talk. "I think he needs more allies that think and act like him and that's what I want to do."

For his part, Mihalick says he'd like to bring a more collaborative approach to the legislature. Reacting to comments Hoverson made declaring people who disagree with him as "enemies," Mihalick says he doesn't see politics that way.

"I don't see [political opponents] as my enemies," he told us. "I spent my life negotiating and recognizing that everybody needs to win when you complete a deal."

We asked the two candidates if Armstrong asked them to run. "Yeah, he did," Mihalick said. DesLauier said that while Armstrong hasn't officially backed their candidacies yet, "we're expecting his endorsement."

Also on this episode, we discussed the ongoing questions about finances at the F5 Project, a high-profile, Fargo-based nonprofit. Me and co-host Chad Oban also discussed the resgination of Nico Rios, and the upcoming special session.

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