(L-R) Julie Fedorchak, Alex Balazs, Cara Mund, Rick Becker
FARGO (KFGO) – Four of the five candidates for the Republican nomination for North Dakota’s U.S. House seat took part in a debate in the KFGO studios Friday.
Alex Balazs – the state Republican Party’s endorsed candidate, Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak, former state lawmaker Rick Becker, and former Miss America and attorney Cara Mund each made their case for why voters should choose them.
The debate was moderated by KFGO News director Paul Jurgens, who was joined by North Dakota Monitor editor Amy Dalrymple, and former KVRR news director and current Forum columnist Jim Shaw.
Election Integrity
Balazs and Mund said they would have certified the 2020 election and would certify the upcoming election. Becker said he would have taken the same approach as Sen. Ted Cruz who suggested the certification be delayed. He did not address the upcoming election.
Fedorchak wouldn’t say if she would have certified the last election or would this year if she is in congress.
Julie Fedorchak
“I will look at the situation at hand and see what is justified and what isn’t,” Fedorchak said. “The most important thing is having elections that people can trust. We have to be able to ensure election integrity.”
When pressed by Mund on refusing to answer the question, Fedorchak qualified her answer by saying she wasn’t in congress at the time and didn’t have the information necessary to answer the question.
All four candidates said they would support hand-counting of ballots.
How would the candidates work to get a farm bill approved?
Mund said it will take a moderate who can work across the aisle to get a farm bill approved, but Balazs disagreed, saying a conservative approach was the answer.
“[The farm bill] is bloated the way it is right now, and we know we want to get SNAP and maybe WIC pulled out of it. You have to do some hard conversations with people and start pulling people together to get those programs placed where they belong. They shouldn’t be in the farm bill” Balazs said.
Balazs questioned why sellers are making 10% profit on crop insurance. He also suggested pulling non-farm related pieces from the bill.
Becker also believes there is too much waste, inefficiency, and abuse in the farm bill. He said that can be done without hurting farmers.
Fedorchak said it will take a firm leader who supports crop insurance programs, something she said Becker is soft on.
Becker said his words have been twisted. He said he’s been very strong on the farm insurance program, but thinks it does need to improve.
“If we can cut waste and abuse, do things like enterprise units, implement the Actively Engaged in
Rick Becker
Farming protocol – there are a number of things we can do that will reduce the needless or abusive payouts. Reducing the payouts will reduce the cost of premiums. Reducing the cost of premiums is good for the farmer and the taxpayer. Those are easy solutions,” Becker said.
Fedorchak said Becker is trying to remodel himself as pro-crop insurance after previously saying he doesn’t think it’s necessary.
Becker responded that Fedorchak is simply parroting talking points from “country club Republicans.”
“What we’re talking about is having good conversation…the inefficiencies of every federal government program out there and trying to improve on [that],” Becker said. “I have talked in the past about how a model that would be a hybrid that included some private insurers would be good. That’s something the North Dakota Farm Bureau supports.”
Do the candidates agree with Gov. Burgum that the trial of Trump is a “sham?”
Becker said he believes it is a sham and a weaponization of bureaucratic government agencies, including the Justice Department.
“They are doing a railroad job on President Trump, there’s no doubt about that,” Becker said. “As the evidence continues to come to light, that is being underscored. If we want to avoid being a banana republic, we cannot allow that to happen.”
Fedorchak and Balazs agreed with Becker. Fedorchak called it a “great distraction from the terrible results of Biden and his horrible leadership of our country.”
“Every one of my opponents is a puppet for Trump,” Mund said in response. “These cases are not distractions. I firmly believe that all Americans are innocent until proven guilty and no one is above the law, but when we elect leaders who undermine our court system, who support the politicization of our courts, there is a deep concern. Every single one of my opponents want to overlook the evidence and just be a talking head for Donal Trump.”
Would the candidates have supported a recent allocation of $61B in aid to Ukraine?
Both Fedorchak and Mund would have supported the bill out of support for Ukraine and to push back against Russia.
Balazs said he would have supported the bill and explained that while some pieces of the bill were bad, much of the funding was to restock U.S. arms that were used. The question was asked by Shaw, who asked Balazs the same question at the Republican Convention, but got a different answer. Balazs explained that he has learned more about the issue and has changed his stance.
Becker was the only candidate who said he would not have supported the aid package.
“It’s crazy to me that a country with as much debt as we are (in), $34-35 trillion, would take on more debt to send to a country that we know is rife with corruption,” Becker said.
Becker said he recently pledged to a group of voters that he would not send their tax dollars overseas with no accountability, oversight, or intention to pay it back. When asked, he said he doesn’t believe that Ukraine could hold off the Russians with or without help from the U.S.
Balazs said Becker’s stance goes to show his lack of understanding and experience with foreign policy.
How would the candidates save Social Security?
All four candidates agreed that something needs to be done about Social Security, but each had different ideas on how to do it.
Mund said she would not cut benefits for Social Security because it’s something that people have paid into for years. She said it is a complex issue that needs to be addressed, and believes the cap on taxable income needs to be raised.
Becker called Social Security a Ponzi Scheme. He said he believes people who are already in the system need to be “kept whole,” but something needs to be done with Social Security. He suggested raising the eligibility age, or converting to a 401k-style system.
Fedorchak said she would sit with stakeholders like AARP to come up with reforms.
Balazs said he would not touch Social Security or “move the goalposts” for people who are in the system and planning to retire.
Alex Balazs
“We’ve been doing this for 30 years, saying, ‘it’s going to crash next year, it’s going to crash next year,’” Balazs said. “Half of this is people doing it so they can get votes for the next election. That’s the Democrats. You know you can save this fund, and you can do it with good management.”
Specifically, Balazs said he would look to cut waste in other programs and move that money into Social Security.
Do any candidates support federal restrictions on access to contraception or medication abortion?
Both Fedorchak and Becker said they are not in favor of restricting access to contraception, but are against abortion medication.
Balazs said it’s a state’s rights issue, but believes the solution is taking care of mothers.
Mund, who has been vocal about her support of abortion rights, said the other candidates are ignorant to the issues currently facing women in North Dakota.
“We do not have a clinic that does elective abortion procedures,” Mund said. “This is women’s
Cara Mund
healthcare. The fact that women could be dying having to carry a fetus that’s not going to make it and wreck her chance of ever being able to have children in the future, and now we have resolutions on IVF. Not only is it, ‘if you can’t do it naturally, we’re also going to prohibit you from trying to conceive in other ways.’”
The North Dakota primary election is June 11.
You can listen to the full debate here.
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