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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 [email protected]. Spread the word of our newsletter by sharing our sign-up link today: https://demnpl.com/join-our-newsletter/.
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Have you voted yet? The June Election not only serves as the Primary for Democratic-NPL state and legislative candidates, it also the GENERAL Election for many important local school boards, city commissions, mayoral races and MORE!
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In local elections, the difference often comes down to a handful of votes! It’s critical you make your voice heard on June 11, so what’s your plan to vote? Will you vote absentee, early, or on election day? What time will you vote? How will you get there? Who are three friends you can remind to vote?
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Upcoming Events!
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District 10 Candidates & Canines
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Saturday, June 8, 2024 – 10:00 AM
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Urban Plains Park
5050 30th Ave S., Fargo
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Join us for a fun time in the park with dogs and Dems! Bring your dog friends to meet Sen. Ryan Braunberger and Rep. Hamida Dakane! Free coffee, donuts, and treats!
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Statewide Candidate Meet & Greet!
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Saturday, June 8, 2024 – 3:00 PM
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Main Street Books
8 Main St S., Minot
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Join the Souris Valley Dem-NPL on Saturday, June 8th at 3PM after the Pride in the Streets Festival for a Statewide Candidate Meet & Greet!
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Curious to know more about the folks on your primary ballot? Come and meet US Senate Candidate Katrina Christiansen, US House Candidate Trygve Hammer, State Auditor Candidate Tim Lamb, PSC Candidate Tracey Wilkie, and D38 House Candidate Lisa Hermosillo.
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Food and drink will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there!
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Merrill Piepkorn’s 75th Birthday!
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Sunday, June 9, 2024 – 2:00 PM
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Crooked Lane Farm
17385 Co Hwy 4, Colfax
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Enjoy pulled pork and turkey, baked beans, potato salad, summer pasta salad, fresh fruit, bars, cookies, lemonade and water. A cash bar will be available.
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Entertainment by: The Radio Stars and other musical surprises!
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NOTE: Due to limited capacity at the venue, RSVPs will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
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There is no charge for this event, but a freewill donation to fund Merrill’s campaign for Governor is much appreciated.
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RSVP by JUNE 3 at https://www.merrillfornd.com/rsvp
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Northern Valley Dems Election Night Party
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Tuesday, June 11, 2024 – 7:00 PM
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4526 83rd St S
Grand Forks, ND 58201
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Enjoy some apps, visit with candidates, and watch primary results come in!
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Souris Valley Dem-NPL Election Night Watch Party
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Tuesday, June 11, 2024 – 7:00 PM
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Blue Rider Bar
118 1st Ave SE, Minot
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Join the Souris Valley Dem-NPL on Tuesday, June 11th at 7PM at the Blue Rider as we watch the primary election results come in!
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This relaxed social event will feature several local and statewide Dem-NPL candidates. Be sure to stick around for later in the night for music from Project Constellation.
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Grab a friend, and we hope to see you join us!
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June 11th Election night watch party Kingpinz
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Tuesday, June 11, 2024 – 7:30 PM
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Kingpinz
3485 Jacks Way S. Fargo
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Join us for our Cass County Dems Election Night Watch party @ Kingpinz, 3485 Jacks Way S Fargo, ND. 7:30-10:30
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Family Fun Flag Day!
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Wednesday, June 12, 2024 – 5:30 PM
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University Park
University Ave. Grand Forks , ND 58201
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Come to University Park for a fun event for families to celebrate Flag Day with activities and games!
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Pride Month Happy Hour & LGBT Legislative Candidate Fundraiser
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Wednesday, June 12, 2024 – 5:30 PM
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Jasper Continental Ballroom & Balcony
215 Broadway N, Fargo
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Join us to celebrate Pride Month and support our five openly gay legislative candidates who are committed to making sure our community is well represented in Bismarck.
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First and foremost, the purpose of this event is for our community to gather and enjoy an evening in celebration together. Stop on by for a few minutes or the entire event. We will take in the beautiful downtown Fargo skyline from the Jasper Hotel’s 5th floor balcony and have the opportunity to meet Sen. Ryan Braunberger, Kyle Thorson running in Grand Forks’ District 18, Darrell Hansen running in District 22 comprised of Horace, part of West Fargo and rural Cass County, Austin Foss and Rep. Josh Boschee who are running together in Fargo’s District 44.
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Secondly, this is meant to be an opportunity for the LGBT community to financially support these candidates. Whether you would like to contribute to just one of the candidates or all five, your contribution will play an important role in ensuring they reach the voters they need to win this November. You can contribute online through the links below or in person the night of the event. And if you’re not able to join us in person, we invite you to still make a contribution to show your support.
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Statewide Policy Committee Meeting
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Wednesday, June 12, 2024 – 6:30 PM
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Meeting of the leadership of the State Party
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FLIP D16 Burger Flip!
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Wednesday, June 19, 2024 – 5:30 PM
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Jasper Continental Ballroom & Balcony
215 Broadway N, Fargo
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Enjoy Burgers, chips, cookies, & lemonade in support of District 16 legislative candidates, Heather for Senate, Julie and Philip for Representatives. Rendezvous Park, 1055 32nd Ave. W. West Fargo. June 19th 5:30-7-30 pm, Shelters, 1 &2. Kids will have an opportunity for games and a special appearance by Tinse the clown.
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Help us spread our message—share these posts from the past week!
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Senator Byron Dorgan and candidate Katrina Christiansen talk about D-Day anniversary
Katrina Christiansen is running for US Senate and is an assistant professor of engineering at the University of Jamestown. She is challenging Republican incumbent Kevin Cramer, and joins Joel in the KFGO studio to talk about her campaign. Senator Byron Dorgan also joins at the beginning to talk about D-Day, and Katrina elaborates on that, as well as other topics like voter outreach, the Summit carbon pipeline, and beef producers.
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Your vote matters more than ever
As we head to the polls in North Dakota on June 11, please remember that each race on the ballot holds significance. “Down-ballot voting” refers to voting on races at the local and state levels; positions such as city council members, judges, school board members, park board members, township board members, and other local government officials. Local and state-level officials have a more direct influence on communities than federal elected officials, so it is crucial to use our voices through our votes during elections to ensure that our governments function as desired.
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Estimated cost was $54,500 to review materials in Jamestown libraries
“Thanks to our state legislators for this undue burden on the library with one of the dumbest pieces of legislation I ever heard of in my life,” said Robert Hoekstra, library board member.
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US Senator Byron Dorgan doesn't think a convicted felon should be President
Byron Dorgan was a Congressman and Senator for North Dakota for 30 years before retiring from the Senate in 2011. He served in the Senate leadership for 16 years, first as assistant Democratic floor leader and then as chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee. He joins Joel to talk about about a variety of topics, including public schooling, Governor Doug Burgum, Donald Trump's guilty verdict, and more.
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Port: Election conspiracy film that inspired North Dakota ballot measure is disavowed by distributor
This isn't the first time the film's irresponsible fabulism was laid bare for the public to see. Back in February, a group called True the Vote, which was involved in the production of the film, responded to a Georgia court order demanding that it substantiate its claims about vote fraud in that state. The group ended up admitting to the court that they had no evidence to share.
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North Dakota lobby group cuts ties with program that sent Ray Holmberg on international trips
The receipts to Prague totaled $5,302. Holmberg, who chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee, was reimbursed thousands of dollars more for other Global Bridges trips from 2010 into 2019, including to China, Berlin, Kosovo and Amsterdam, according to the receipts.
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Holmberg was charged in October in North Dakota U.S. District Court of traveling to the Czech Republic city between June 24, 2011, and Nov. 1, 2016, with intentions to “engage in illicit sexual activity” with a minor. He also faces accusations of receiving or attempting to receive child sex abuse materials.
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As election day approaches, information about Rep. Claire Cory's DUI arrest remains scant
Court documents, such as the information and citation, are not available to the public because the case was filed in municipal rather than criminal court, municipal court staff told the Herald. Everything the Herald has been able to access surrounding the arrest was either found in the cover sheet of the Grand Forks Police Department's case report, the municipal court docket or the Grand Forks County Correctional Center booking list.
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Gov. Doug Burgum has left North Dakota often during the past year, moreso in the past month
Merrill Piepkorn, the Democratic candidate for governor, has said Burgum has become too distracted by Trump. In a recent interview with The Forum, Piepkorn said the role of a governor doesn’t include campaigning for any presidential candidate.
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“Why are you doing this? For the benefit of North Dakota? No,” Piepkorn said of Burgum. “For your own personal benefit, whatever that might be? Yes.”
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Katrina Christiansen visits Casselton and Fargo during campaign stops ahead of June 11 primary
She says rubbing elbows with voters face-to-face will play a key role in her campaign this time around.
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"We need to get out there and show them that I'm invested in helping them," Christiansen said. "I like asking people about what they care about, I'm not talking about what I care about."
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How has the Infrastructure Bill helped North Dakota counties?
Aaron Birst is the Executive Director of the ND Association of Counties, and joins Joel on "News and Views." They talk about where counties get their funding and how they’re using the Infrastructure Bill, as well opportunities through the Bank of North Dakota.
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Bender: MAGAs recoil from law and order
"How could Trump get a fair trial in his hometown?" Burgum whinnied when he found a camera. "Where do they get off prosecuting the rich? Why did the judge telepathically prohibit the defense from calling witnesses? Plus, there were probably Democrats on that shim-shammy, mammy-pajammy jury!"
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McFeely Mess podcast: Joel Heitkamp on Doug Burgum, the NDGOP primaries (and tattoos)
KFGO and "News and Views" radio network host Joel Heitkamp joins host Mike McFeely to talk about North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum's dangerous defense of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and what spurred Burgum to go from a seemingly independent thinker politically to a MAGA mouthpiece.
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Feds reveal plan to confront Fargo’s violent crime problem
“This initiative is all about using new federal resources as a force multiplier to assist our local law enforcement partners in targeting the relatively few individuals who drive violent crime in Fargo and Cass County,” Schneider said.
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“With a forceful prosecution strategy that is focused on felons in possession of firearms and dismantling gangs and other criminal organizations before they take root in the community, we can help keep the Fargo area safe as it continues to grow.”
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Port: An election official won a gun from House candidate Rick Becker's campaign
Beyond the receipt of a pricey gift from a candidate — which, again, isn't illegal, but perhaps should be — there are reasons to believe that Splonskowski, who did not respond to an email or a voicemail left at his county office seeking comment, isn't exactly committed to the fair and lawful administration of elections in one of North Dakota's most populous jurisdictions.
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Last year, Splonskowski filed suit against the state of North Dakota with the backing of a national group called the Public Interest Legal Foundation, arguing that he shouldn't have to count mailed-in ballots postmarked before the election deadline but received afterward, despite state law specifically allowing this.
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Don't miss these national stories!
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‘We Are the World Power.’ How Joe Biden Leads
On June 6, Biden will travel to Normandy, France, to memorialize an event that has served for eight decades as a focal point of this vision. He will arrive as the 12th—and certainly the last—American President who was alive on that day in 1944, when 73,000 American troops led the largest amphibious invasion in human history, accelerating Nazi Germany’s defeat and Europe’s liberation. For generations, D-Day has been a hallowed anniversary. The President says commemorating it is as much about the future as the past. “We’re playing [that role] even more,” Biden says. “We are the world power.”
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Biden-Harris National Advisory Board Member Governor Josh Shapiro on MSNBC's “Morning Joe”
“The president, in what I thought were just outstanding words and poignant words, not only reminded us of that history of ordinary Americans doing extraordinary things, but he connected the dots between the bravery of 80 years ago on those beaches and the responsibility that falls to each of us today to continue to perfect our union, to defend democracy, to protect our freedom. He made clear what the choices are not just in an election, but in our everyday lives to stand up and recognize our own unique responsibilities. … I thought the president connecting the dots today is also a reminder of what's at stake in this election and something we all have to think really clearly about. Yes, there are two names on the ballot, President Biden and Donald Trump, but in many ways this election isn't just about them. It's about all of us and whether we're still willing to fight for democracy and freedom, whether we still value honor and decency and want to protect our institutions.”
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Trump could drive inflation higher with his second-term economic agenda, analysts say
“A second Trump term could bring higher tariffs, attempts to weaken the dollar, even higher deficits, deportation of illegal immigrants, and other policies that could put upward pressure on inflation,” Piper Sandler analysts wrote last week.
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Trump ally Steve Bannon ordered to report to prison July 1 in contempt of Congress case
Trump ally Steve Bannon was ordered to report to prison July 1, after a federal judge held a hearing on whether to clear the way for him to serve his four-month prison sentence for contempt of Congress.
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Prosecutors pushed last month for the former White House chief strategist to be sent to prison after an appeals court denied a request to overturn his criminal conviction. Bannon is fighting the move and argues the judge who oversaw his criminal trial does not yet have the legal authority to impose the sentence as his defense team pursues other avenues for appeal.
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"I wasn't dead enough for an abortion": Texas mom blames Trump for almost losing her life
"I was at risk of organ damage to my kidneys and brain, but I wasn't dead enough for an abortion in Texas, " Miller said.
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Jobs report blows past expectations, displaying resilient strength of US economy
A better-than-expected jobs report on Friday displayed the resilient strength of the U.S. economy, even after years of high interest rates and stubborn inflation.
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Employers hired 272,000 workers last month, blowing past economist expectations of 190,000 jobs added, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed.
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Biden salutes WWII veterans during D-Day 80th anniversary speech in Normandy
President Joe Biden addressed World War II veterans and guests to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, when Allied forces’ surprise attack helped liberate Europe from Nazi Germany. During the president’s address, Biden took the time to salute the WWII veterans sitting behind him.
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Jill Biden tells audience at Pittsburgh Pride event ‘your president loves you’
For the LGBTQ community in 2024, Biden said, rights are being stripped away and freedoms are eroding. “More and more state laws are being passed targeting this community,” Biden said. “We had to fend off 50 anti-gay amendments that Republicans tried to force into the government funding bill.”
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Texas man details wife's devastating miscarriage amid state's strict abortion laws: "Nobody uses the word abortion"
Doctors told Hamilton that it wasn't enough of an emergency to perform a D&C, also known as dilation and curettage — a surgical procedure to remove fetal tissue inside the uterus, used for both miscarriages and abortions.
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Jan. 6 cops stump for Biden in Pittsburgh, warn that Trump is 'threat to democracy'
Dunn, hard to miss at 6-foot-7, served 15 years in the Capitol Police. He called Trump a “threat to democracy” and predicted the former president would try to subvert democracy again if put back in the White House.
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Dunn, a Democrat from Maryland, ran unsuccessfully for Congress this year.
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The pair of former cops, both of whom testified before Congress about their experiences, were flanked Tuesday by about 15 Biden supporters, including Pittsburgh City Controller Rachael Heisler.
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“This is about democracy versus dictatorship,” Dunn said. “The choice could not be more clear.”
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Trump to make virtual appearance at event with group that calls abortion ‘child sacrifice’
Donald Trump is courting a Christian advocacy organization that wants to ban all abortions and calls the procedure “child sacrifice,” a stringent position that contradicts his own less restrictive approach and stated intention to let states decide the issue.
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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.
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Help us elect great Democrats up and down the ballot!
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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.
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Grassroots organizers are the lifeblood of the Dem-NPL! Sign up to volunteer with the Dem-NPL!
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