Rep. Dawson Holle, a Republican from District 31, is involved in a four-way race for two House seats. He, along with fellow House incumbent Rep. Karen Rohr, didn't receive the NDGOP's convention endorsement. Many of the NDGOP's incumbents haven't been endorsed amid a rift in the party between traditionally conservative Republicans and a populist faction that wants to take Nort Dakota in a different direction.

Holle says his losing the endorsement had as much to do with gamesmanship and geography as the intent of voters.

"I think that there's a lot of things that go on behind the scene that often time people don't see see when it comes to a district as big as mine," Holle told us on this episode of Plain Talk (District 31 encompasses all or parts of four counties).

"Our district meeting was on a Wednesday at 7:00 at night," he continued. "The weather was okay, but it was an hour and a half drive from my house, and trying to get supporters there is a hard time."

Still Holle, who was, at 18 years old, the youngest person elected to the Legislature in state history, says he's not changing how he approaches the race amid intra party turbulence. "Affordability is hurting everyone," he said. "No matter what aspect or what industry you're in -- from farming where we've seen a lot of the costs have risen astronomically across the board, to it's just a single mom with three kids that just is trying to pay your bills -- affordability is really the breadandbut issue."

Also on this episode, Josh Askvig, state director for the AARP, talked with me and guest co-host Megan Indvik about the prevelance of older voters in North Dakota's primary elections, as well as some of the generational friction between so-called "boomers" and younger generations, and the common ground these voters can find with one another.

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