Plain Talk

Former state Sen. Tom Campbell has a plan for getting the nation's finances in order should he be elected to Congress. "No new hiring," he said. "Let's use artificial intelligence."

He argued that many government jobs could be automated, resulting in dramatic reductions in the federal workforce, and savings for taxpayers.

Campbell is seeking the NDGOP's nomination for the U.S. House, and he had some sharp words for his opponent in that race, former state Rep. Rick Becker. He accused Becker of opposing the farm bill. "Does he want to bankrupt our small towns with no farm program?" he asked, going on to say that Becker is "just too radical far right."

Also on this episode, state Rep. Mike Nathe of Bismarck discusses why he and his fellow incumbents in District 30 skipped their own party's endorsing convention, something for which they were censured.

"Our [district] party was taken over a few years ago," he said, adding that district events had become so "ugly" that a police presence was necessary.

"A lot of good Republicans don't want to go because it is so disgusting," he said, adding that he and his fellow incumbents struggle to find delegates to attend the local convention because "a lot of them have PTSD" from bad experiences in the past.

He argued that other NDGOP district committees have similar problems across the state.

Nathe and the other incumbents skipped the endorsing convention, which was organized by a district chair who was also a candidate for the endorsement, and instead collected signatures to place their names on the June ballot.

Nathe says that if he's elected to another term in the House, he plans to introduce legislation to do away with the endorsing convention process.

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MINOT — "I think our personalities are different," Rep. Kelly Armstrong said on this episode of Plain Talk, responding to my question about how he's different from outgoing Gov. Doug Burgum.

Armstrong immediately launched a campaign to be North Dakota's next governor when Burgum announced that he wouldn't seek a third term in that office. "Given the current dynamic change in the political environment, North Dakota is going to need a lot of leadership," he told my co-host Chad Oban and I. But how is he different from the governor who has presided over North Dakota's affairs for most of the last decade?

"He's one of the smartest people in North Dakota if not the country," Armstrong said of Burgum, "but I grew up in smaller businesses." But he said the differences may be more style than substance. He said he also admires former governors Ed Schafer, John Hoeven, and Jack Dalrymple, but argued few would see them as sharing similar styles and personalities.

Burgum frequently clashed with the Republican-controlled Legislature. Even during the 2023 legislative session, which we now know was Burgum's last as governor, it wasn't unusual to hear members of Burgum's own party bemoan his vetoes. Armstrong said he would likely have his conflicts with lawmakers too, as all governors do, but said his philosophy in politics is to not "make it personal."

One area where lawmakers and Burgum frequently failed to see eye to eye were on social or so-called "culture war" bills that dealt with things like book bans pronouns and LGTBQ+ issues. Burgum signed a couple of those bills, but vetoed more. Asked how he would handle those issues, Armstrong said he'd use the approach he uses for all policy proposals. "First of all, is it a problem? Second, does the solution have unintended or unforeseen consequences? Third, is it something for the state or federal government to handle?"

"The expansion of the state government is not going to solve problems" he added.

Asked how he has navigated an era where American politics is not just divided between Republicans and Democrats, but also Republicans and Republicans, Armstrong said that he seeks to work with the other side, but also understands that unity, while "a great buzzword," is not necessary "to be effective."

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It's been a wild week in North Dakota politics.

Former state Rep. Rick Becker announced a primary challenge to U.S. House incumbent Kelly Armstrong. But then, Armstrong left the race to run for governor because the incumbent there, Doug Burgum, opted not to seek a third term.

Many pieces are moving around the chess board of North Dakota politics. On this episode of Plain Talk, me and my co-host Chad Oban dig into them.

Can former state Sen. Tom Campbell, who is also running for governor, overcome the early advantages in terms of fundraising Armstrong has as a congressional incumbent?

Will Lt. Governor Tammy Miller join the governor's race? And if she does, to what extent will outgoing Gov. Doug Burgum support her financially?

Will Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak get in the race?

Becker is currently the only Republican running for North Dakota's at-large seat in the House. Will others join that race?

We don't have answers to all those questions, but we certainly have some informed thoughts.

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"Yeah, I think that's a fair conclusion," Aaron Moss, a former member of the Minot Police Department, and the Sgt. at Arms of the North Dakota Fraternal Order of Police, told me and co-host Chad Oban on this episode of Plain Talk.

Moss was asked if his group feels state Rep. Nico Rios, who so far hasn't stepped down after an incident in which he berated two Williston Police Department officers with racist and homophobic diatribes during an arrest for DUI. He called the situation "extraordinarily frustrating."

"We rely on these folks to come up with the police we enforce," Moss said. When an elected official who makes the laws behaves this way, "It cuts the legs out from under us."

Moss applauded House Majority Leader Mike Lefor for calling on Rios to resign, and for removing the Williston lawmaker from the House Judiciary Committee, where he would have been a "distraction" for law enforcement officials obliged to work with that committee.

Also on this episode, Chad and I discuss a political attack by state Rep. Brandon Prichard on nearly three dozen of his Republican colleagues, and Gov. Doug Burgum's endorsement of former President Donald Trump for a second term.

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When we talk about carbon dioxide, it's usually in the context of having too much of it. Which is to say, that we're putting too much carbon into our atmosphere though human activity.

But according to Ron Ness, the president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, who joined me and co-host Ben Hanson on Plain Talk today, our state's oil industry is going to need more carbon to keep itself sustainable into the future. The industry needs the carbon to inject down into oil wells for enhanced oil recovery.

"It's absolutely critical," he told us.

Ness's comments come at a time when there is a brawling political debate over carbon pipelines. The Summit Carbon Pipeline, specifically, has drawn a lot of attention, facing as it does outspoken opposition from a coalition of strange bed fellows, including left-wing environmentalists and right-wing populists. That project doesn't have anything to do with what Ness is talking about -- it's backed by the ethanol industry, aiming to bring carbon produced at ethanol plants to North Dakota for storage -- but he says his industry is watching it carefully.

Because they're going to need carbon in the future, and pipelines are the best way to bring it here.

Also on this episode, Ben and I discuss and analyze the possibility that Gov. Doug Burgum could join a second Trump administration in some official way. Maybe as a cabinet official? Maybe as Trump's running mate?

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"It's one thing to think about Democrats in the abstract," U.S. House candidate Trygve Hammer, himself a Democrat, told co-host Chad Oban and I on this episode of Plain Talk. "It's another thing to meet a Democrat.

Hammer has a strong military and labor background, and when he said that, he was responding to a question about how he, as a member of a party that in many ways has lost touch with blue-collar voters, can reconnect with that constituency.

He also spoke about some of the recent scandals North Dakota Republicans have found themselves mired in, and suggested Democrats have some culpability as well. Not for the scandals themselves, but for not being more competitive with Republicans. "There is a little bit of Democratic responsibility for this," he said, adding that "it would be political malpractice in this cycle for Democrats not to bring this stuff up."

As for his opponent, incumbent Congressman Kelly Armstrong, Hammer says he feels some empathy. "I sympathize with him," Hammer said. "He's been put in a pickle by a lot of the bad actors in his party."

Also on this episode, Oban and I analyze the case former state Sen. Tom Campbell is making for his gubernatorial ambitions, and whether or not state Rep. Jason Dockter, a Bismarck Republican who is facing a misdemeanor criminal charge over a sweetheart office lease deal, should resign.

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One of the first things former state Senator Tom Campbell said as he began his interview on this episode of Plain Talk with co-host Chad Oban and I was this: "I'm not here to bash Doug," referring to incumbent Governor Doug Burgum.

Campbell, who is considering a run for governor himself, then spent the next six minutes or so bashing Doug.

"He's been an ok governor," Campbell said, damning the incumbent with faint praise.

"I think eight years is probably enough," he said.

"I think everyone realized right from the get go that it was going nowhere," Campbell said of Burgum's presidential campaign.

He also said that campaign didn't reflect well on North Dakota, saying it was "making us look like a small hick state."

Campbell quoted an unnamed friend who told him, "I don't think I want someone controlling the nuclear buttons that just comes from a small town and rides horses."

Those are some sharp jabs for someone not out to "bash" their potential opponent.

Campbell, who says he hasn't yet decided on a gubernatorial run, addressed some potential areas of criticism for his potential campaign, including his family's decision to sell land to tech industry mogul Bill Gates, a bete noire of the populist right. "Our family decided to sell the land to him and we leased it back long term," he said, adding that the money from the transaction "allows us to keep farming."

"That was a very positive thing I did," he added.

Asked about his priorities, should he run for and win the governor's seat, Campbell said he'd sign a bill to cap property taxes, and focus on workforce shortages, particularly in the areas of teachers, medical professionals, and lawyers.

Oban asked Campbell whether he feels incumbent President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, and Campbell wouldn't commit. "I don't know," he said. "There's a lot of information that's still coming out," he added.

Michael Bell, a new talk radio host on KFYR AM550 in Bismarck, also joined this show to talk about starting a gig like that in these divisive political times. "It's been an interesting tome to help break through to the masses," he said.

He's critical of Donald Trump. "He's not really a Republican and certainly not a conservative," Bell said. He also said that many on the right today "yell and shout and think that's conservatism."

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If you own property in North Dakota right now, and you live at that property as your primary residence, you are probably eligible for a $500 property tax credit from the State of North Dakota. You can fill out an online form on the Tax Commissioner's website right now and claim that credit.

Tax Commissioner Brian Kroshus joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss that process. He says some 35,000 North Dakotans have claimed it already, and he expects the number to be well above 50,000 by next week. He said he expects about 90% of eligible citizens to claim the credit.

Congressman Kelly Armstrong also joined this episode and addressed the scandal around state Rep. Nico Rios, saying he agrees with the calls on the Williston lawmaker to resign. Armstrong, a former defense attorney who says he's represented clients in DUI cases, says Rios "hit the trifecta of what not to do" during an arrest, pointing out that he refused a sobriety test, he verbally abused the officers, and he invoked his status as an elected official to try and get out of the arrest.

Armstrong also suggested that a lack of competition from Democrats — Rios and the other Republicans from District 23 ran unopposed for their positions — has hurt Republicans by allowing them to endorse some unvetted candidates. "Everyone would be better served if we had more competition," he said.

He was also critical of NDGOP Chair Sandi Sanford, who has flip-flopped on her call for Rios to resign. "This should be easy. This should be an easy thing to do," Armstrong said. "You either say he should resign, or not resign, or no comment. Everything else is just parsing."

"I often think in politics we don't do a good job of holding our own side accountable," he added. When asked about the number of North Dakota Republicans in the headlines for various scandals over the last year, he said he's focused on the job he's doing. "I'm on a never-ending quest to prove you don't have to be crazy to be a conservative," he said.

Speaking of competition, Armstrong, who has said he will be seeking re-election to his current office this year, has a challenger from Democratic-NPL candidate Trygve Hammer, who filed a statement of candidacy with the FEC this week.

Armstrong called Hammer "impressive," citing his military background, but said, "I'm going to run on my record.

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House Majority Leader Mike Lefor, a Republican from Bismarck, says that shortly after Rep. Nico Rios was arrested for driving under the influence, he got a call from the Williston lawmaker. Rios acknowledged the arrest during that conversation, but according to Lefor, he left out the verbal abuse and bigoted slurs he hurled at members of the Williston Police Department involved in the arrest.

"At no time did he let me know about any videos," Lefor said on this episode of Plain Talk. "I watched the video. I was deeply disappointed," he added.

Lefor and other North Dakota Republican leaders, including those in Rios's legislative district, have called for the lawmaker to resign. "I don't think there's a place in the Legislature, or the party, for someone who talks like that to a police officer," he said.

Rios, so far, hasn't resigned. Asked what the next steps would be if the lawmaker clings to office, Lefor raised the possibility of a recall. "I wouldn't be surprised if there was a movement to remove him from that office," Lefor said. He didn't mention the possibility of expelling Rios. That would require a vote of the full House of Representatives, and as things stand now, the Legislature won't convene again until January of 2025.

But, in the mean time, Lefor says he's working on what he can do to remove Rios from the House Judiciary Committee, which handles law enforcement matters among other topics. Lefor says he wouldn't want a member of law enforcement to have to testify in front of Rios.

Lefor also commented on the legal controversy around redistricting. A federal judge struck down a map drawn by lawmakers, saying it is out of compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act. The judge set a deadline for lawmakers to draw a new map, but that has come and gone as the state has appealed the ruling. The judge said he could choose a map himself if lawmakers don't act, but so far that hasn't happened. Lefor says the Legislature continues the process of developing a new map, but said at any point the judge could rule again, at which point lawmakers would have to respond.

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In 2020, Donald Trump was still in office, and made the decision to reach down to a state-level executive branch race of the sort you don't normally see American presidents intervening in.

In the NDGOP's primary that year, Trump endorsed former state Rep. Daniel Johnston to be North Dakota's Treasurer. Pillow salesman and MAGA-world celebrity Mike Lindell endorsed Johnston too, as did U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer.

But another lawmaker, Thomas Beadle, won the Republican primary with support from Gov. Doug Burgum. Now he's up for re-election, and joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss it.

Beadle described the 2020 competition as a "proxy battle" between Cramer and Burgum. He said his personal style isn't showy. "I was never the show horse," he said, adding that he didn't get involved in politics to "just own the libs."

Asked if he feels he will face a primary challenge from the populist, Trump-aligned faction of the party, Beadle said he wasn't sure, but that he's not "afraid of it."

He didn't commit to attending the NDGOP's statewide convention, where the populist faction has gotten the most traction in state politics. "It's an open conversation," he said. "I love the convention process," he added, but said he plans to campaign "all the way to November," suggesting he'd likely stay in the race even if he doesn't receive the party's convention endorsement.

Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I discuss the scandal involving state Rep. Nico Rios, and why Republicans have, so far, been reticent to condemn a man who used vile slurs and bigoted language on two members of the Williston Police Department.