Welcome to the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Insider, a newsletter that features regular updates about upcoming Dem-NPL events, legislative happenings, and news that affects North Dakotans!

If you would like to have something added to the newsletter, email us at laura.dronen@demnpl.com. Spread the word about our newsletter by sharing our sign-up link today: https://demnpl.com/join-our-newsletter/.

A Big Thanks to our Democracy Summer Fellows!


Sending Kordiea Rerick and Minou Babinguii big thanks and our best wishes for a fantastic senior year!! This summer, we had the great privilege of participating in Democracy Summer Fellowship, a project of Congressman Jamie Raskin's to train and give experience to high school and college students, while helping out state parties too. Fellows in the program have virtual meetings with congressional and party leaders, and other prominent progressive voices, each week. They also meet regionally to take the organizing principles they learn about on the weekly calls and put them into action plans. As a part of the program, the state parties who participate agree to pay them a small stipend in return for 10-15 hours of volunteer time. Kordiea and Minou helped us in the office with a fundraising letter project, helped envision a Commit to Vote website, and went door-knocking for us. Both of these women are standout leaders in their schools (one in high school and one in college), and they were amazing to work with over the summer.

Stay in touch and let us know what comes next for you, Kordiea and Minou! Thank you for sharing your time and commitment to democracy and a strong state party with us this summer!!

The Fight for Free and Fair Elections


Right now, the Republican dominated Texas Legislature is attempting to redraw its Congressional maps to take 5 seats held by Democrats and give them to Republicans. They are using a special session—meant to provide flood relief to Texas families—to shove this devious plan through. They’re not even trying to hide their intentions—Trump is bragging about it!

Texas Democratic legislators left the state to block this egregious and unprecedented gerrymandering.

Check out the Chair of the Texas Democratic Party discuss what's happening: Gov. Abbott is being a ‘wannabe authoritarian’ with redistricting push: Texas Democratic party chair

If you need a break from the news, but still want to learn more about gerrymandering, check out this game: http://gametheorytest.com/gerry/
Check out more events on our website and our Mobilize page!
To submit an event, complete this form.

Walk with the Democratic-NPL in the FM Pride Parade!

Sun, Aug 10, 1:30pm-3:30pm CDT
3rd St N behind the Fargo Public Library
Fargo

Walk with the Cass County Democratic-NPL in the FM Pride Parade! Representative Austin Foss is the Grand Marshal!

Parade attendees are encouraged to use the parking ramps in the downtown Fargo area. The parade line-up will begin on 3rd St N behind the Fargo Public Library.

Cass County Dem-NPL Summerfest

Tue, Aug 12, 5:30pm CDT
Lindenwood Park
1905 Roger Maris Dr, Fargo

It's always a great time at Summerfest with food, friends, and fun!

Souris Valley Dem-NPL August Monthly Meeting

Tue, Aug 12, 6:00pm CDT
Parker Center
21 1st Ave SE, Minot

Join the Souris Valley Dem-NPL at our August Monthly Meeting!

All Democrats and Nonpartisan Leaguers in Minot and the surrounding area are welcome as we discuss news and upcoming events.

We will be meeting at the Parker Center (21 1st Ave SE, Minot, ND) on Tuesday, August 12th. There will be a social from 6PM - 6:30PM followed by the meeting from 6:30PM - 7:30PM.

We look forward to seeing you there!

How to Democrat in the Age of Trump Book Study

Wed, Aug 13, 7:00pm-8:30pm CDT
Fargo Public Library – Main Library
101 4th St N, Fargo

The District 44 & 45 Dems are hosting a book study and all are welcome to join! We’ll be reading How to Democrat in the Age of Trump by Mike Lux. It’s a short but impactful book to guide where we go from here.

RSVP here: https://forms.gle/fLSE73zKxLbekphy5

Happy Reading!

District 22 Summer Supper Club/Monthly Meeting

Wed, Aug 13, 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm CDT
Davenport Supper Club and Lounge
45 1st Ave. Davenport

See you at the Davenport Supper Club…I hear the ribeyes are the best in Dist 22😉

Drinking Liberally Dickinson

Wed, Aug 13, 5:30 pm MDT
The Press Box at Players Sports Bar & Grill
2050 1st Ave E., Dickinson

Every Wednesday in Dickinson

Dickinson Area Democratic-NPL meeting

Wed, Aug 13, 7:00 pm MDT
The Press Box at Players Sports Bar & Grill
2050 1st Ave E., Dickinson

Districts 37, 36, and 39 meet every second Wednesday after Drinking Liberally!

Mandan Community Picnic

Thu, Aug 14, 5:30pm-7:30pm CDT
Legion Park, Shelter 1
1111 10th Ave SW, Mandan

It's picnic time! Join the Bismarck-Mandan Dem-NPL for our Mandan Community Picnic at Legion Park, Shelter 1 on Thursday, August 14!

District 24 August Membership Meeting

Thurs, Aug 21, 7:00 p.m.
The Vault
223 Central Ave, Valley City

We’re excited to be meeting in this great space — no fee, and all Democrats are welcome!

We have lots to discuss, including the VCSU Marketplace and the upcoming Round Up. Stay tuned for more details on both events!

Drinks and Discussion with Dems

Wed, Aug 20, 5:00pm-7:00pm
El Zagal Shrine Fargo
1429 3rd St N, Fargo

Our informal get-together to talk about current events, brainstorm on activities we can do together as a two district partnership, and just enjoy each others’ company in general.

hosted by District 45 Dems!

Locally Grown, Nationally Strong - An Evening With Malcolm Kenyatta

Fri, Aug 22, 6:00pm
Manvel, ND

Join us on Friday, August 22nd in Manvel, ND for an energizing evening of community, conversation, and action! Enjoy dinner, a cash bar, and exciting raffle items as we hear from keynote speaker DNC Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta.
  • VIP Reception begins at 5:30 PM
  • General Admission starts at 6:00 PM
  • Programming begins at 6:30 PM (Open house style until 8:00 PM)
Guests will leave engaged, energized, and equipped with tools and next steps to help create change heading into the 2026 elections.

An Evening with DNC Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta and North Dakota Democratic-NPL Chair Adam Goldwyn

Sat, Aug 23, 7:00pm CDT
Fargo, ND

Join us on Saturday, August 23rd in Fargo, ND for an energizing evening of community, conversation, and action! Enjoy refreshments as we hear from DNC Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta and the Democratic-NPL State Party Chair Adam Golwdyn.

Battle of the Brats!

Sun, Aug 24, 5:00pm CDT
Sertoma Park, Shelter #10
Riverside Park Rd, Bismarck

Mark your calendars. August is picnic time. Join the Bismarck-Mandan Dem-NPL at Sertoma Park Shelter 10 for Battle of the Brats!

Dem-NPL District 13 Meeting with Mac Schneider

Tue, Aug 26, 6:00pm CDT
The Local 701-Bar
1405 Prairie Pkwy, West Fargo

Speaker -- ND US Attorney and Senator Mac Schneider -- Tuesday, August 26 - 6:00 Social / 7:00 Meeting -- The Local 701-Bar, 1405 Prairie Pkwy, West Fargo, North Dakota -- Quentin E. Carlson, Chair -- Dem-NPL District 13 - West Fargo - EVERYONE WELCOME !!— at The Local 701.

Burdick Dinner 2025 with Jess Piper

Sat, Oct 4, 5:30pm CDT
Radisson Blu Fargo
201 5th St N, Fargo, ND 58102

The Burdick Dinner 2025 will be held on October 4th, 2025, at the Radisson Blu located in downtown Fargo! The fun-filled event will begin with a reception at 5:30pm followed by the dinner and program beginning at 6:30pm. Our featured speaker is Jess Piper, the Executive Direcor for Blue Missouri. We look forward to seeing you there!

Purchase your tickets before September 12 for a $25 early bird discount!

Help us spread our message—share these recent posts!

Big Beautiful Bill impacts school lunches in North Dakota


“Because fewer children would be eligible for SNAP, or Medicaid, or TANF, then they would not be automatically eligible for free school meals, and that would create an administrative burden on the school, asking them to fill out an application, and some of those students may also not qualify based on a paper application,” said Johnson.

The Department of Public Instruction is waiting for the funding cuts to go into effect to plan its next move.

“Right now, it’s just a wait and see, because it is a couple of years before a lot of these policies are implemented, so there won’t be an impact on our students during this next couple of school years, so really we’re just watching and waiting to see what happens,” said Johnson.

Watch Now

Voting rights at stake in case involving North Dakota tribal district


In 2024 the Turtle Mountain Band and the Spirit Lake Tribe formed a joint district for the first time. The future of the district is now in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Watch Now

North Dakota mineral owners say oil companies unfairly keep millions from checks without oversight


Trulson emailed details of his situation, and a royalty statement, to seven senators on the committee considering the bill drafted by the royalty owners. Some deductions “go totally unexplained!” he told them. The only legislator who responded was the one Democrat, Merrill Piepkorn.

“I hate to say this because I lean a little more on the Republican side and I’m more conservative,” Trulson said. “Other ones didn’t even bother to respond or say thanks for the information or anything.” He added: “The state of North Dakota doesn’t want to help us out.”

The legislation was turned into a study, which ultimately recommended no changes to state law.

“I had a hard time keeping from screaming,” Anderson said of his frustration during the hearings, which he attended in person.

Read More

Letter: Rural students deserve our help


And so, I ask, will North Dakota recognize the dilemma that small, rural schools face? Once recognized, will North Dakota do something about it? Will North Dakota recognize, appreciate, and realize, as Thordarson did, the leadership laboratory that exists in rural environments? Where young people are challenged every day by the problems posed by living on a farm in 2025 (or 1935)? Will we do what needs to be done to save what we have?

Read More

Letter: Thuggish actions of ICE agents alarming


Every day in America, masked ICE agents without identification, without warrants, with no due process are ripping people away from their lives and families. Every day more of this real life thuggery is being recorded, filmed, and witnessed. Most have no criminal record; many actually have proper documentation; and some are native-born citizens with clear proof of citizenship. No, this time it’s not Russia, China, or Pinochet’s Argentina where thousands “disappeared.” This is now America.

Read More

Brickner: Integrity is worth fighting for


I am grateful to be a part of these groups. Whether feisty or soft–spoken, I find role models who share patriotism and other values, like justice, concern for the poor and hungry, for education and free speech. Despite the moniker, it is not limited to grandmothers or even women. We’ve had male participants and speakers. We want to remember or re–member—put back together—the democracy of our ancestors, of our youth.

Read More

States scramble to complete renewable energy projects before tax credits expire


Trump has falsely claimed that wind and solar are “expensive and unreliable,” and has at the same time worked to boost fossil fuel production. He has also taken aim at the fact that some renewable energy components are manufactured overseas, calling it a national security threat.
“Projects in early to mid-stage development are deeply in danger if not completely cut off,” said Harry Godfrey, managing director with Advanced Energy United, an industry group focused on energy and transportation. “This administration is finding a variety of ways to pull the rug on wind and solar.”

Read More

Ellen Huber: Rural grocery and local food hub project advances with major funding


Joel Heitkamp is joined by Ellen Huber, the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives (NDAREC) rural development director, to talk about progress being made in rural communities.

A regional initiative which seeks to transform the rural food system – helping grocery stores stay open and increasing access to local foods – is advancing in North Dakota. The pilot project will test a rural grocery and local food hub model in the north central region that, if successful, could be replicated elsewhere in North Dakota and rural America.

Listen Now

Rural North Dakota hospitals, patients in limbo following federal Medicaid changes


A concern Blasl has outside the bill lies in Affordable Care Act tax subsidies or credits people receive to get health care coverage on the health insurance marketplace. There are many individuals who qualify for tax subsidies that help offset health care premiums, Blasl said, but he has heard they expire at the end of the year. If they are not extended, people may lose coverage or have to pay more, which is an additional concern on top of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” he said.

“It’s just another issue we’re tracking,” he said.

Read More

Nick Archuleta and Erin Oban speak about the benefits of public schools in North Dakota


The President of ND United, Nick Archuleta, is filling in for Joel Heitkamp and is joined by Erin Oban to talk about the importance and necessity of public schools. Erin Oban is a former State Senator from Bismarck and served as the state director of USDA Rural Development. She's now working with North Dakotans for Public Schools, which advocates for the policies, personnel, and resources needed to strengthen and improve our public schools

Listen Now

Letter: Are your groceries cheaper yet?


Are your groceries cheaper yet? Ours are not. Has the price of steel or lumber gone down? Again, no. Did you believe this would be accomplished by the current president?

Sadly, the tariff “deals” really aren’t deals. They are a tax on Americans, an affront to former allies, and will cause more hunger. Businesses (recently RDO) will lay off employees because costs of goods are not sustainable. Purchasing a home or a new car gets more difficult each day. A student loan crisis is growing and many will no longer be able to attend a two or four year college.

Read More

Letter: World's acceptance of suffering is callous


The Biden administration put Yinon Levi under "sanctions" for his previous violent acts; Trump immediately cancelled them. He also famously pardoned over 1500 Jan 6 rioters, many of whom have since been convicted of other crimes including child pornography.

So I hope Mr. Trump will pardon me if I say, "You have no apparent concept of justice."

Read More

Dr. Caitlin Carroll: Study finds rural hospital closures led to higher prices at nearby hospitals


New research from the University of Minnesota shows rural hospital closures led to higher prices at nearby hospitals.

School of Public Health assistant professor Caitlin Carroll says after a rural hospital closed, prices at nearby surviving hospitals went up almost 3.6%, an average of about $500 per inpatient stay. Carroll says the study also found rural hospitals that eventually closed charged 6% less than nearby hospitals, so closures forced patients into high-priced facilities.

Joel Heitkamp is joined by Dr. Carroll to talk about it, and takes some of your calls.

Listen Now

Speaking out: Rethinking deportation


Trump’s deportation plan is a costly, cruel and tragic mistake that never needs to happen. Congress has the power to protect millions of people. Congress should put 538,000 DACA recipients on a path to citizenship. And 240,000 Ukrainian humanitarian parolees in the United States should be granted guest status and the right to work until they can return home. The millions of people who have been here for 10 years or more with no criminal history should be put on a path to citizenship. The 1,125,690 foreign students at our universities and colleges deserve protection from deportation.

Trump’s executive orders have created a nightmarish struggle for dignity and respect. This administration’s effort to deport millions of people without due process or compassion for their circumstances is nonsensical. Like slavery and the treatment of Native Americans, it is creating a subclass of people who must live in the shadows and fear the cruelty of the United States government. Lincoln freed the slaves by executive order. Congress should likewise free 13.7 million Americans from government oppression. America has promised liberty and justice for all.

Read More

State suicide prevention efforts are lacking amid federal cuts


Only a dozen states have laws establishing suicide prevention offices or coordinators, and just 11 have task forces or committees dedicated to suicide prevention efforts, according to a new report.

The report comes amid sweeping cuts at federal agencies that offer mental health support. They include significant slashes in staffing and funding at the nation’s largest mental health and substance use agency, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to fold SAMHSA into his new Administration for a Healthy America.

Released last week, the report was conducted by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials with support from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The analysis is part of an online resource breaking down details of suicide prevention efforts at the state level.

Read More

Check out these messages from national Democrats

Veterans’ Care at Risk Under Trump as Hundreds of Doctors and Nurses Reject Working at VA Hospitals


Veterans hospitals are struggling to replace hundreds of doctors and nurses who have left the health care system this year as the Trump administration pursues its pledge to simultaneously slash Department of Veterans Affairs staff and improve care.

Many job applicants are turning down offers, worried that the positions are not stable and uneasy with the overall direction of the agency, according to internal documents examined by ProPublica. The records show nearly 4 in 10 of the roughly 2,000 doctors offered jobs from January through March of this year turned them down. That is quadruple the rate of doctors rejecting offers during the same time period last year.

Read More

Trump’s Epstein Crisis Meeting


Tim Miller appears on MSNBC to unpack a secretive meeting involving Trump allies like Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, and others. They explore how this behind-the-scenes gathering, possibly tied to the Epstein case and broader legal maneuvers, signals a plan to weaponize the DOJ for political payback.

Watch Now

The Media Keeps Ignoring the Truth About American Politics


Republicans in Texas are trying to gerrymander congressional districts to give the GOP a greater advantage in the U.S. House of Representatives, potentially even preserving the party’s control of the lower chamber in next year’s midterm elections. And yet, the mainstream media keeps missing the radicalism of the Republican Party—in part because too few reporters and editors follow news at the state level. In the inaugural episode of his new video interview series, The New Republic’s Perry Bacon discusses these issues with Michael Podhorzer, the former political director of the AFL-CIO who now writes a widely read Substack newsletter, Weekend Reading.

Watch Now

U.S. Air Force to deny early retirement benefits to some transgender service members


Shannon Leary, a lawyer who represents LGBTQ+ people in employment discrimination cases, says she expects lawsuits to challenge Thursday's decision. "It seems quite arbitrary on its face and cruel," she said. "These military members have dedicated their lives to serving our country."

Logan Ireland, a master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force who has 15 years of service, including a deployment to Afghanistan, is one of the airmen impacted by the policy. "I feel betrayed and devastated by the news," he said.

Ireland said he was told that his retirement was being denied on Wednesday when his chain of command, "with tears in their eyes," told him the news.

Read More

New tariffs snap into effect, raising import taxes to highest level since Great Depression


Yale’s Budget Lab calculates that the inflationary effect of tariffs will cost a typical household an average of as much as $2,400 this year. It forecasts one of the biggest impacts in clothing, with consumers facing 40% higher prices for shoes and 38% higher costs for apparel in the short run as retailers that rely on importing clothes from South and Southeast Asia shift supply chains or grapple with higher costs.

Read More

Epstein victims speak out: This ‘smacks of a cover up’


Victims of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell are alarmed over the Justice Department’s effort to unseal grand jury testimony in their cases and its cooperation with Maxwell, a convicted sex offender.

Several victims, in letters from their lawyers, have balked at the department’s approach, saying it “smacks of a cover up,” calling aspects of it “cowardly,” and arguing that it demonstrates the Trump administration considers the victims “at best, an afterthought.”

Read More

What Role Do Immigrants Play in the Rural Workforce?


In addition to their role as physicians and surgeons, immigrant adults make up significantly higher shares of the agriculture, construction, and service (including restaurant and cleaning) workforces in rural America compared to their share of the total rural workforce (Figure 3). These patterns are similar to the outsized role immigrant adults play in these workforces nationwide. In rural areas, immigrant adults account for nearly three in ten (28%) agricultural workers, including nearly a quarter (24%) who are noncitizen immigrants. Immigrant adults also make up about one in ten construction (10%) and service (9%) workers in rural America, again driven by larger shares of noncitizen immigrants who account for these workers.

Read More

Lawsuit seeks justice department and FBI communications about Epstein investigation


Meanwhile, top Trump officials reportedly met at the White House on Wednesday night to discuss strategy moving forward as the Trump administration continues to face criticism, including from Republicans, for its handling of the official files related to Epstein and the US president’s responses to calls for the release of all documents related to the criminal investigation.

The meeting was reportedly hosted by JD Vance, with the gathering moved from the vice-president’s official residence to the White House, according to reporting by CNN. The meeting had been billed to include top Trump officials, including the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, and the FBI director, Kash Patel. Vance and his staff had denied that a meeting to discuss the handling of the rumbling Epstein scandal was taking place.

Read More

The Supreme Court Just Signaled Something Deeply Disturbing About the Next Term


If the Supreme Court moves forward with this interpretation, it would be a sea change to voting rights law. A reading of the Constitution as forbidding race-conscious districting as mandated by Congress to deal with centuries of race discrimination in voting is at odds with the text of the Constitution, with the powers granted directly to Congress to enforce the 14th and 15th amendments, and at odds with numerous precedents of the court itself. It would end what has been the most successful way that Black and other minority voters have gotten fair representation in Congress, state legislatures, and local bodies. It would be an earthquake in politics and make our legislative bodies whiter and our protection for minority voters greatly diminished. Even if the court less drastically says that Section 2 cannot be used to require the second congressional district in this case, such a superficially more minimal ruling would mean the quick unraveling of most Section 2 districts, because if the facts in Louisiana don’t justify drawing a second district, most other Section 2 claims would fail too.

Read More

Nebraska Republican congressman booed over Trump's 'big, beautiful bill'


Republican U.S. Representative Mike Flood endured a contentious town hall meeting in Nebraska on Monday, as opponents of President Donald Trump's sweeping tax- and spending-cut bill booed and heckled him for over an hour.

Read More

So Much for the ‘Best Health-Care System in the World’


In the second Trump era, the party’s opposition to universal health care has, if anything, intensified. The signature legislative accomplishment of Trump’s second term thus far is a deeply unpopular budget bill that is projected to take health insurance away from 16 million Americans once fully implemented.

But now the party has turned sharply against innovation too. Trump has wiped out billions of dollars in federal support for medical research, including canceling a promising HIV-vaccine project. This week, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. terminated hundreds of millions of dollars in grants for mRNA-vaccine research, one of the most promising avenues in all of medicine.

The United States is going to forfeit its role as medical pioneer even as it recedes further behind every other wealthy country in access.

Kennedy has made the party’s pivot explicit. He does not boast about the American health-care system. Instead, he calls it a disaster. “We spend two to three times what other countries pay for public health, and we have the worst outcomes—and that’s not acceptable,” he said on Fox News earlier this year. Kennedy is not wrong about the bottom line; American health care is costly, and the results are poor. But he is almost completely wrong about the cause of this failure. There are many reasons for Americans’ poor health, and shutting down vaccines and medical research, while depriving millions of access to basic care, will make all of those problems far worse.

Read More

Trump's Texas Power Grab


From the moment he was named Chancellor in January 1933, it took Hitler just 53 days to destroy German democracy. At every turn during those 53 days — each time he defied the constitution, exceeded his authority, dismantled the rule of law — the politicians, the press, the public did too little too late.

In only 53 days he went from a buffoonish thug barely able to hold power to the undisputed dictator of Germany.

In the last six months in America, we have seen Trump defy the co-equal federal courts, dismantle agencies and departments chartered by a co-equal congress, collude with corrupt public officials and attempt through executive order to dispense with nearly every constitutional safeguard that has kept us a nation of laws and not kings.
And now he seeks to grab even more power by stealing five congressional districts in Texas.

Read More

Medicaid Cuts Are Likely to Worsen Mental Health Care in Rural America


But Medicaid cuts in the massive tax and spending bill signed into law earlier this month will worsen mental health disparities in those communities, experts say, as patients lose coverage and rural health centers are unable to remain open amid a loss of funds.

“The context to begin with is, even with no Medicaid cuts, the access to mental health services in rural communities is spotty at best, just very spotty at best — and in many communities, there’s literally no care,” said Ron Manderscheid, former executive director of the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors.

Read More

Why congressional redistricting is blowing up across the US this summer


Fueled by President Donald Trump’s aims to bolster the U.S. House’s razor-thin GOP majority in the 2026 midterm elections, a rare mid-decade redistricting fight in Texas grew increasingly bitter in recent days and engulfed other states.

Read More

Trump firing of BLS head imperils trust in economic data


The big picture: The president's abrupt firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner Friday makes clear that any federal data collector who delivers unwelcome news could lose their job in an instant.

Economists of all stripes fear a chilling impact.

The removal "presents risks to the conduct of monetary policy, to financial stability, and to the economic outlook," wrote JPMorgan chief U.S. economist Michael Feroli.

Read More
The Century Club supports our year-round work to build party infrastructure supporting candidate recruitment, local district and regional leadership, issue-based education, and tools for Dem-NPL success.
Help us elect great Democrats up and down the ballot!
The North Dakota Democratic-NPL is launching a new grassroots program called “Neighbor to Neighbor” where volunteers will connect with voters in your community to elect Democrats up and down the ballot. As a volunteer, you will be responsible for connecting with voters in 25 homes in your neighborhood or friends and family to help elect Democrats up and down the ballot about 3-4 times this year.
Grassroots organizers are the lifeblood of the Dem-NPL! Sign up to volunteer with the Dem-NPL!

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