Rep. Nico Rios, R-Williston, speaks during a legislative hearing on April 3, 2025. He is not seeking reelection in 2026. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)
WILLISTON, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – A controversial Williston lawmaker said he will not seek reelection this year.
Rep. Nico Rios, a Republican, told the North Dakota Monitor Tuesday he will not seek his party’s endorsement during the NDGOP District 23 convention on Saturday. He said he plans to focus on his career and personal life when his term expires at the end of the year.
“I’m real busy at work, and it’s cost me a lot of time away from my personal life for the last four years,” Rios said.
In 2023, Rios was arrested for drunken driving and was captured on an officer’s body camera berating a police officer using homophobic and racist language. The video also showed Rios attempting to use his position to intimidate law enforcement. Republican legislative leadership and the North Dakota Republican Party called on Rios to resign after the incident, which he did not do.
In the aftermath, legislative leadership removed Rios from the interim Judiciary Committee. At the time, House Majority Leader Mike Lefor, R-Dickinson, said it wouldn’t have been appropriate to have law enforcement testify to a committee in which he was a member.
During the 2025 legislative session, district and state Republican party leaders denounced antisemetic comments Rios made on social media about the Jewish heritage of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
After the post, Corey Johnson, chair of the District 23 Republicans, said he did not believe Rios had the confidence of the district, but he stopped short of calling for a recall petition to be circulated.
Rios was elected to the North Dakota House of Representatives in 2022. During last year’s legislative session, he was the primary sponsor of six bills and resolutions. All either failed or were withdrawn, including a resolution that sought to declare that North Dakota acknowledges the kingship of Jesus Christ.
Rios works in the oil and gas industry and said focusing on an election campaign over the next year would limit his opportunities to better his career.
Johnson said he plans to seek the district’s endorsement for one of its House seats. He added he will turn the gavel for the convention over to the district’s first vice chair once the endorsement process begins.
He also said he’s had informal conversations with multiple other candidates who seemed interested in running for a seat in the Legislature, but none have officially announced their candidacies.
“We’re going to run a fair and impartial process and make sure all of our constituents get their voices heard,” Johnson said.
Sen. Todd Beard, R-Williston, and Rep. Dennis Nehring, R-Williston, the two other lawmakers representing District 23, are both expected to run for reelection and seek the district’s endorsement on Saturday, Johnson said.
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