ND Secretary of State Al Jaeger leaves the podium after his speech seeking the Republican nomination for the office he's held since 1993. Jaeger lost the nomination to Will Gardner at Saturday's convention. Eric Hylden / Forum News Service

Podcast: Jaeger Talks About Re-Entering Secretary of State Race After Gardner Campaign Implodes

Rob Port - 5 hours ago - Featured, This And That

Podcast: Jaeger Talks About Re-Entering Secretary of State Race After Gardner Campaign Implodes

Rob Port - 5 hours ago - Featured, This And That

“When that news broke it changed everything.” That’s what incumbent Secretary of State Al Jaeger told me on my radio show today. He was referring to news that erstwhile Republican Secretary of State candidate Will Gardner, who had defeated Jaeger for the NDGOP’s endorsement earlier this month, was stopping his campaign amid scandal. Jaeger said…

Ryan Zinke, Secretary of the Department of Interior, was keynote speaker Wednesday at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in the Bismarck Event Center. Tom Stromme / Bismarck Tribune

Podcast: “We’ve Gone From Surviving to Thriving”

Rob Port - 9 hours ago - Featured, This And That

Live on location at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference yesterday I interviewed a number of people from North Dakota’s oil and gas industry about the state of affairs in the Bakken play. We talked about recovering oil prices, a new sense of optimism, and the challenge of North Dakota’s chronic labor shortages. “We’ve gone from…

Podcast: Do Wind Farm Lights Bother You?

Rob Port - 1 day ago - Featured, This And That

Do those flashing lights on wind farms bother you? They bother a lot of people, but relief may be on the way. Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak was on the radio show to talk about the regulations going in place to shut those lights off, except when airplanes are near, or to at least dim…

Former Secretary of State candidate Will Gardner announces his candidacy at a press conference. Gardner has since withdrawn his candidacy amid scandal. TOM STROMME/Bismarck Tribune

Podcast: NDGOP Chairman Says “Party Will Take a Look At” Background Checks for Candidates

Rob Port - May 22, 2018 - Featured, This And That

Over the weekend Republican Secretary of State candidate Will Gardner ended his campaign after a bombshell report in the Fargo Forum detailing a disorderly conduct conviction for some very creepy behavior on the NDSU campus back in 2006. That put the NDGOP in an awkward position. As it stands now they have no official candidate…

Podcast: Stenhejem Talks Opioids Lawsuit, Line 3 Supporter Talks Pipeline, Cramer Takes Calls

Rob Port - May 16, 2018 - Featured, This And That

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem joined me on the radio show to discuss the lawsuit he’s filed on behalf of the State of North Dakota against Purdue Pharma, the company which introduced America to Oxycontin. Stenehjem contends that the company committed “consumer fraud” in lying about how addictive the drug is, among other things. He said…

Podcast: Gary Emineth Talks About Initiated Measure to Ban Non-Citizen Voting in State Constitution

Rob Port - May 15, 2018 - Featured, This And That

On the radio show today Gary Emineth – former NDGOP chairman, former U.S. Senate candidate, and current state Senate candidate in Bismarck – joined me on air today to chat about an initiated measure he’s backing to ban non-citizen voting in North Dakota. Isn’t it already illegal for non-citizens to vote in North Dakota? Emineth…

Podcast: Responding to Heitkamp, Boschee Talks Voter ID, Eberhart Talks Oil Prices

Rob Port - May 14, 2018 - Featured, This And That

Secretary of State candidate Josh Boschee joined me on the radio show today. Recently Senator Heidi Heitkamp claimed that North Dakota’s Legislature passed voter ID laws to “clearly target” college students and Native Americans, a claim she hadn’t made prior to her re-election year. Since Boschee is running for a job that has among its…

Podcast: Armstrong Says Schneider Is Campaigning “a Lot More Moderate Than His Voting Record”

Rob Port - May 14, 2018 - Featured, This And That

On Friday I had U.S. House candidate Kelly Armstrong on my radio show. He and his Democratic opponent Mac Schneider squared off recently in a debate hosted by the North Dakota Newspaper Association. At that event Armstrong said something about voters having a choice between himself, a conservative Republican, and Schneider who is campaigning as…

Podcast: Responding to McFeely, Special Assessments, North Dakota Secession

Rob Port - May 10, 2018 - Featured, This And That

I took some time on the radio show today to respond to criticism Mike McFeely has thrown at me for writing too often, and too critically, of his preferred candidate for the U.S Senate. I also spoke to Fargo City commission candidate Tim Flakoll about his plan for special assessments. Current Commissioner Tony Gehrig, who…

Podcast: Cramer Says Rank-and-File North Dakota Democrats Are “Suffering Because of the Extremism” of Their Party

Rob Port - May 9, 2018 - Featured, This And That

Congressman Kevin Cramer joined me on the radio show today for his weekly open phones segment. Democrats have been making a stink about a recent interview in which Cramer said the decisive factor which led him to run for the U.S. Senate was oil industry tycoon Harold Hamm pledging to fund raise for him. I…