Michael Coachman, a regular if marginal candidate for statewide office in North Dakota, has announced yet another campaign. In 2020 he’ll be running for governor, taking on incumbent Republican Doug Burgum (who hasn’t announced yet but has been polling his candidacy) and an eventual Democratic candidate. Good for Coachman, I think. His past campaigns have…
We Should Allow More Time for Referendum Campaigns
As of yesterday all three referendum campaigns started by Dickinson citizen activist Riley Kuntz have failed. He was trying to refer an appropriation for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, an expansion of the open records exemption for legislative emails, and a limit on the powers of the state auditor to the statewide ballot for a…
Guest Post: Al Jaeger Strikes Again
This guest post was submitted by Dustin Gawrylow from the North Dakota Watchdog Network Today’s headline is that two of the three referral petitions may not make the deadline set by the Secretary of State under the law. But the real news story is that one of these referrals was given two separate deadlines – by…
Let’s All Be Glad This Is Al Jaeger’s Last Term
Secretary of State Al Jaeger survived what was a roller coaster election and will continue in the office he’s held since the early 1990’s for four more years. He’s now saying this will definitely be his last term. “I feel so blessed,” he told Patrick Springer. “This will be my last term,” he added. Jaeger…
North Dakota Democrats Drop Third Pro-Coachman Mailer in Sec. of State Race, This One Quoting Republican Lawmakers
The North Dakota Democratic Party has sent out a third mailer in the Secretary of State race, again not touting their candidate Josh Boschee but rather a last-minute independent candidate named Michael Coachman. Coachman styles himself a conservative but is on the ballot as an independent. Long-time incumbent Al Jaeger is also on the ballot…
North Dakota Democrats Send Out Mailer Supporting Third Party Candidate as “The Real Conservative” in Sec. of State Race
Over the weekend a reader sent me some photos of a mailer sent out by the North Dakota Democratic party which was pretty clearly to look, at first glance, like an endorsement of independent Secretary of State candidate Michael Coachman. The colors and images used in the ad looked like it was a pro-Coachman ad,…
Democrats Send Mailer Appearing to Promote Trump-Backing Independent Candidate for Secretary of State
North Dakota’s Secretary of State race is a three-way competition between incumbent Republican Al Jaeger (on the ballot as an independent because of this), Democrat Josh Boschee, and Republican-leaning independent Michael Coachman. Today a number of readers reached out to me about mailers they’ve received, identified as paid for by the North Dakota Democratic Party,…
I Really Wanted to Vote for Democrat Josh Boschee as Secretary of State
Over the years I have been consistently critical of Secretary of State Al Jaeger’s handling of his duties. There have never been any large problems in his office, but there is a consistent stream of little ones, from goofs in administering elections and ballot measures to how slow his office has been to embrace modern…
Podcast: Al Jaeger, Josh Boschee, and Senate Debate Preview
On the radio show today Secretary of State Al Jaeger, and his Democratic challenger Josh Boschee, each gave their sides of the story about a problem with misprinted ballots in Mercer County. Jaeger says the mistake was made at the county level. Boshcee says it’s Jaeger’s fault, and part of a pattern of errors coming…
Federal Appeals Court Allows North Dakota ID Law Heitkamp Described a “Suppression” to Be Enforced
According to a release from Secretary of State Al Jaeger’s office, today the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay of a previous ruling in a lawsuit challenging North Dakota’s voter identification law. Previously the federal courts had ruled that North Dakota’s law, which said that only ID’s could be used to vote, couldn’t…