UPDATE: Gardner has withdrawn from the race, though as I note below I don’t believe he can get his name off of the primary ballot at this time. The Grand Forks Herald has more, including comments from incumbent Jaeger. Earlier this year Mandan businessman Will Gardner won the Secretary of State race endorsement of the…
Podcast: Responding to Heitkamp, Boschee Talks Voter ID, Eberhart Talks Oil Prices
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: “It’s Gonna Be Just Fine” North Dakota Commodities Trader Says About Soybean Markets
Is all this hand-wringing about Trump’s trade fight with China and its potential impact on North Dakota’s agriculture economy based on reality? Or is it hyped politics from Democrats anxious to drive a wedge between President Donald Trump and rural voters who cast their ballots for him? Eugene Graner, President of Heartland Investor Services, told…
Could Weather Factor Into Who Republicans Choose as Secretary of State Candidate?
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…
Podcast: “The Only Thing Grindr Is Good for Is Making Sausages and Hamburgers”
Republican state Representative Randy Boehning was last on the ballot in 2014. In 2015, contemporaneous to a contentious vote on gay rights legislation, Boehning admitted to sending a man unsolicited and explicit pictures of himself on Grindr. That’s an app which bills itself as “the world’s largest social networking app for gay, bi, trans, and…
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+…