Mitch Baesler, chair of NDGOP District 37, addresses the convention as members made a motion to remove his district from participating in the convention on April 5, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
by MICHAEL ACHTERLING AND AMY DALRYMPLE (North Dakota Monitor)
FARGO (KFGO/North Dakota Monitor) – The North Dakota Republican Party convention got off to a slow start Friday after some delegates challenged the credentials of a Dickinson-area district.
Travis Zablotney, chair of Minot-area District 5 NDGOP, made a motion to strike District 37 delegates from participating in the endorsing convention.
The district includes House Majority Leader Mike Lefor, R-Dickinson, and is chaired by Mitch Baesler.
Zablotney and others allege that District 37 did not conduct a proper election when approving delegates for the convention. Lefor and Baesler dispute that.
“Everyone who wanted to be a delegate for District 37 is here,” Lefor said. “No one is disenfranchised.”
Members voted 815-611 to allow District 37 delegates to participate.
Baesler said some delegates from District 37 opted to stay home because of uncertainty about whether they’d be able to participate.
An opinion from Vogel Law Firm sought by the state NDGOP said District 37’s delegates were properly elected under state party rules.
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