So far this morning delegates here at the NDGOP convention have dealt with endorsements in mostly uncontested races. Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger and Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem both won their endorsements unopposed. Congressman Kevin Cramer, meanwhile, ended up being endorsed for the U.S. Senate race unanimously when his announced opponent Thomas O’Neill failed to make…
Podcast: Live From the NDGOP Convention
I broadcast my radio show live from the NDGOP state convention at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks, sponsored by First International Bank & Trust. I spoke to Congressman Kevin Cramer and NDGOP Chairman Rick Berg about the convention and upcoming campaign season. Senator John Hoeven joined, saying the number of delegates registered for the…
Guest Post: Will Gardner Is the Right Man for Secretary of State
This is the right time, and Will Gardner is the right man to be our next Secretary of State. Gardner is knowledgeable about how to solve the technical challenges of the office. He is also passionate about making our elections fair. These are his priorities, and we agree that they reflect the top issues facing…
Dustin Gawrylow: Attacks on Gardner Are Petty and Vindictive
This guest post was submitted by Bismarck resident Dustin Gawrylow. This weekend there are two races at the North Dakota Republican Party state convention that really matter: nominations for the U.S. House of Representatives and the Secretary of State. I have personally known Will Gardner for many years, and have had enough in depth discussions…
Rep. Jim Kasper: Setting the Record Straight on Secretary of State Al Jaeger
This guest post was submitted by Rep. Jim Kasper of District 46. I was pleased to read and totally concur with the column that Jack Zaleski wrote in the Sunday, April 1st Forum, regarding the true record of service by Secretary of State Al Jaeger for the people of North Dakota. In his article, Zaleski correctly exposes the tactics by Jaeger’s opponent, Mr. WillGardner, during Gardner’s campaign to unseat Secretary Jaeger. Zaleski points…
Will Gardner: We Must Eliminate Unverified Ballots in North Dakota
This guest post was submitted by Will Gardner, a candidate for the NDGOP nomination for Secretary of State. When you hear of election fraud, do you think of Russian cyber interference or do you think of the thousands of unverified ballots in our last statewide election? Oh, wait — you don’t know about the 16,000+…
North Dakota Actually Has Voter Turnout Levels Above the National Average
State Rep. Josh Boschee, a Democrat from Fargo, has announced his campaign for Secretary of State (he’ll be joining me on my radio show tomorrow). He’s already getting in digs at Republican incumbent Al Jaeger talking about the need to modernize the office and improve its performance on things like business filings. There’s going to…
Fargo Democrat Josh Boschee to Run for Secretary of State
It seems clear that both Republicans and Democrats think incumbent Al Jaeger has been Secretary of State for long enough. Jaeger, who officially announced his bid for re-election today, is being challenged for the NDGOP nomination by fellow Republican Will Gardner of Mandan. Now state Rep. Josh Boschee of Fargo, a Democrat, has announced that…
Since You Asked, Secretary Jaeger
Last week I wrote a print column noting that the North Dakota Republican Party has some vulnerable spots on the statewide ballot, among them long-serving Secretary of State Al Jaeger. Here’s what I wrote about Jaeger, specifically: Also vulnerable is Secretary of State Al Jaeger who is, by a country mile, the longest serving of…
We Have No Idea if Voter Fraud Changed the Outcome of Some North Dakota Elections
When the voter ID issue is brought up by Republicans the response from Democrats is usually a lot of dismissive sneering. Voter fraud isn’t really a problem, they tell us, pointing to the lack of criminal cases involving voter fraud. But is it that there’s no fraud? Or that we aren’t really doing anything to…