By: Michael Achterling
BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – Campaign season for North Dakota Republican incumbents has a different feel this year, with statewide office holders collecting signatures to appear on the ballot rather than relying on a state party endorsement.
The shift comes two years after the party supported candidates for U.S. House and state school superintendent who lost in the primary, which some say illustrates a disconnect between the state party and Republican voters.
There have been no campaign press conferences from NDGOP headquarters this year, a departure from previous election cycles.
Statewide incumbents have been largely noncommittal about whether they plan to attend the state Republican convention as a more conservative faction has control over the party.
“These districts are being taken over by the far right and they are pushing out anybody who disagrees with them,” said Rep. Mike Nathe, a Bismarck Republican who attempted to eliminate the state party endorsing process during the legislative session.
The state party last summer narrowly elected newcomer Matthew Simon as chair in a nearly tied vote over Shane Goettle, a former national committeeman who previously worked for U.S. Sen. John Hoeven. At the same meeting, the state party passed a resolution expressing “extreme disappointment” toward Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong for vetoing a library content bill. They also condemned property tax legislation that was popular with a majority of elected Republican leaders.
Simon, who received support from the rising populist wing of the party, said he expects statewide candidates seeking the Republican Party endorsement to attend the state convention.
“This is their opportunity to get with, let’s be honest, the activists within the party,” Simon said in an interview. “It’s important to empower your base and get them really excited because these are the people that are going to show up and support you.”
In North Dakota, candidates can either submit a certificate of endorsement from a political party or gather signatures to appear on the ballot. Republicans have traditionally sought the state party endorsement, though there have been some exceptions.
Rep. Ben Koppelman, R-West Fargo, said the NDGOP state committee has been closely divided for a long time. But until recently, most candidates respected the party endorsement process, he said.
“If the alternative to the state convention is to go and convince independents and Democrats, and Republican-leaning people, that aren’t party members, to help you get over the top in the primary, then really, there is no Republican Party,” Koppelman said. “At that point, we should stop having a slot on the ballot because nobody respects the membership in the party.”
Kevin Cramer notably skipped the endorsing process in 2012 when he ran for U.S. House, opting to go straight to the June primary, where he defeated NDGOP-endorsed Brian Kalk. Doug Burgum also successfully ran in the June 2016 primary after the Republican Party endorsed Wayne Stenehjem for governor.
This year, Attorney General Drew Wrigley, Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, Secretary of State Michael Howe, Tax Commissioner Brian Kroshus and Public Service Commission member Sheri Haugen-Hoffart – all Republican incumbents seeking reelection – said they are gathering signatures.
For everyone but Howe, gathering signatures is a departure from how they handled their candidacy four years ago, the incumbents told the Monitor.
“It’s a little unpredictable, and I’m not one to leave things open to unpredictable,” Wrigley said of the state convention process. “To be clear, the Republican-endorsed candidate comes out of the primary.”
Wrigley has been attending district NDGOP meetings but said he hasn’t decided if he’ll attend the state convention next month in Minot.
When asked whether he planned to attend the state convention, Kroshus said step one is to attend district conventions.
“I’ve been making the rounds to the extent that a person can because you still have a job to do and that comes first,” Kroshus said. “But, at the same time, you have to make your case to be reelected to continue doing the job.”
Howe said he gathered signatures in 2022 but ultimately didn’t submit them because he received the state party endorsement. All candidates collected signatures in 2020 when political conventions were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bob Harms, a former chair of the North Dakota Republican Party, called it “troubling” to see the separation within the state party, especially among the party leadership.
Harms said a lot of division is lingering from the 2024 state convention in Fargo where some delegates were nearly shut out from participating due to challenges to the district’s delegate selection process. Many also objected to the process for endorsing a U.S. House candidate in a five-way race. Some delegates intentionally spoiled their ballots, preventing either Julie Fedorchak or Alex Balazs from receiving enough votes to be endorsed. Fedorchak withdrew during the drawn-out process, leaving Balazs as the winner. Fedorchak won in the June primary, with Balazs placing fourth out of five candidates.
Participants in the 2024 state convention also voted to give a letter of support to Jim Bartlett for state school superintendent, who advocated for the Ten Commandments in public schools. Incumbent Kirsten Baesler overwhelmingly won in the June primary without the party’s support, with Bartlett coming in third.
During the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers debated two bills that sought to change how candidates get onto the primary ballot. A bill from Rep. Nathe would have required all candidates for statewide and legislative office to submit signatures to be included in the primary. Nathe was among legislative incumbents who did not seek district endorsements in 2024 and collected signatures to be on the primary ballot.
“I don’t need the state party,” Nathe said.
A competing bill from Rep. Koppelman would have eliminated the signature-gathering option and only allowed candidates endorsed by political parties into the primary election. Koppelman, who does plan to attend the state convention, said candidates who represent an organization should carry its values and principles.
Both bills failed in the North Dakota House. Koppelman ultimately voted against his own bill and urged his colleagues to do the same, advocating instead for working to get more people involved in the process.
It’s unclear if Fedorchak will participate in the convention. Kate Roberts, spokesperson for Fedorchak’s campaign, said the team is working on the schedule.
Balazs, who is attempting another run for House, said he plans to attend the state convention but he is also gathering signatures to appear on the primary ballot if he is not endorsed.
One person who won’t be at the convention is Gov. Armstrong, who will instead be serving as a best man in a wedding that weekend. Armstrong was not consulted by the state party about the convention date, said spokesman Mike Nowatzki.
Jacob Odermann, chair of NDGOP District 39 in southwest North Dakota, said getting selected as a delegate to the state convention was considered a “hot ticket” in 2022, when he first became district chair. That year, the district brought 84 delegates.
When District 39 held its endorsing convention at the end of January, 14 people signed up, though the district is continuing to recruit, Odermann said.
“Fast forward four years, and I think the state party really has to look hard and do some serious soul searching on how they are managing things,” he said. “Obviously, something has been lost since 2022.”
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