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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!
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Democrats are fighting for you and your families this Special Session
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The special session started with procedural drama! The special-session rules allow a proposal not approved by Legislative Management to be introduced with a two-thirds vote of the members of the originating chamber present and voting. Democratic-NPL lawmakers brought two bills to the floor. Senator Kathy Hogan’s proposal to fund gaps in child care assistance and Sen. Mathern’s bill for a temporary data center moratorium.
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The House, at least, had the courage to go on record with their votes to block these bills. In the Senate, David Hogue objected to simply even having a vote to overturn Hogue’s objection. Republican Senators did not overrule his objections.
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Republicans are not listening. North Dakotans are raising real concerns about child care costs and availability and about the pace and long-term impacts of data center development. Democrats brought those concerns to the Legislature. Republicans did not simply disagree with our proposed solutions; they refused to even allow the Legislature to hear and debate them.
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Here’s where we are with the 5 bills Legislative management did pick up
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Senator Jamie Selzler proposed an amendment to cut the loan amount for the GOP’s mismanaged construction on the military gallery from $35 million to $6 million, but it was voted down on a party-line vote.
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A bill that would reverse changes made in the last special session to North Dakota’s primary residence tax credit received no recommendation because Republicans on the committee could not come to a consensus.
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Make sure to let your lawmakers know how you feel about these bills!
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House Vote to allow debate on a Temporary Data Center Moratorium
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House Vote to allow debate on a bill for 9 million to ensure the 1,900 North Dakota families on the waitlist to receive state childcare assistance get it
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KNOCK DOORS. MAKE CALLS. WIN ELECTIONS.
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Our candidates are furiously fundraising right now, and one of the best ways we can support them is by hitting the streets and the phones to talk to voters.
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We are so excited to have 3 all organizers on staff to drive the Make American Good Again Campaign! Andrea Alfson is working in Fargo, and all of Region 8; Sarah Grossbauer will be starting July 1, covering the greater Grand Forks area; and Nicole DesRosier continues working in Minot and the western regions. They all bring so much experience to our team to make sure volunteers not only stay on track with our goals but also make sure we all have some fun along the way.
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District 32 Town Hall with Ryan Braunberger
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Bismarck Veterans Memorial Public Library
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Secretary of State candidate, Ryan Braunberger, and District 32 will be holding a town hall on September 2 at 6:30 p.m. in Meeting Room C at the Bismarck Public Library.
We encourage you to attend, ask questions, share your concerns, and engage in a conversation about the issues that matter to our community.
We look forward to seeing you there!
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ASDC Democracy Protectors: Constitutional Observer Training, Help Us Protect the Vote
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We need you. Donald Trump is threatening to send agents all over the country with the goal of intimidating voters. As Democratic State Parties, we will not let this go unchallenged.
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State Parties across the country and the DNC are training volunteers to serve as Democracy Protectors—volunteers outside polling locations to help voters and to serve as a friendly face during what might be a stressful time in our elections.
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Potato Bowl Parade
University & North 9th St
Grand Forks
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The Potato Bowl Parade is coming up on September 5th, and Northern Valley Democrats will be there!
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Before the Fighting Hawks take the field, we’ll be tailgating at the Alerus Center and getting ready to hit the parade route. We need walkers and candy to help make our presence a big one!
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D21 Fall Steak Fry
Fargo AMVETS
1001 1st Ave S, Fargo
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We are celebrating Sen. Schneiders Birthday!! Wouldn't the best gift be to send our 3 candidates to Bismarck to continue the great work they are doing? Join us at the celebration on September 9 and enjoy a steak dinner!
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Chef Rick at Amvets will be grilling us steaks, potatoes & fixins, corn, and beans, all for $25. Our Chair, Paula Strom Sell will be making homemade bread and dessert. Pick a time you would like to come and Chef Rick will have your steak on the grill.
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Grafton Town Hall
Grafton Armory
309 Hill Ave, Grafton, ND 58237
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Ask the Dem-NPL endorsed candidates about rural healthcare, data centers, and other issues!
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District 45 Dems Annual Picnic
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Thurs, Sept 10 6:00pm CDT
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Ask the Dem-NPL endorsed candidates about rural healthcare, data centers, and other issues!
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Horace "Bean Days" Parade
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Sat, Sep 12, 11:00am-1:00pm CDT
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The Horace Bean days includes the parade and lots of fun activities. Join our candidates in the parade and check out the other events. https://www.horacebeandays.com/event-details
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Grand Forks Pride Parade with The Northern Valley Democrats
Downtown on the Parade Route!
Grand Forks, ND 58203
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Sign up to be a Proud Dem-NPLer in the Grand Forks on Sept 13th! Meet us at our float downtown at 1:30PM. Wear your best Dem-NPL wear or PRIDE gear! We will have t-shirts for anyone who joins us! We will walk and hand out candy! Please join in the fun! Please reach out to Sarah with any questions! 701-317-3589
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WestFest Parade
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Let's celebrate West Fargo! Join our candidates in the parade - 3 vehicles and all of our walkers. We'll send detailed info on time and starting location.
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Burdick Dinner
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Ask the Dem-NPL endorsed candidates about rural healthcare, data centers, and other issues!
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Help us spread our message—share these recent posts!
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Data center NDAs get do-not-pass recommendation from committee
The Joint Policy Committee began by passing an amendment to Senate Bill 2406, sponsored by Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo. The bill would establish a roughly one-year moratorium barring agencies from entering nondisclosure agreements concerning data centers and industrial projects. An agency entering into a nondisclosure agreement with the developer of a data center or industrial project would be grounds for the suspension, revocation or rescission of a developer's permit or approval from an agency.
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Grand Forks D-NPL candidates talk housing, data centers, school lunches as special session begins
Tyler York, a House candidate in District 43, called on the lawmakers to look again at previously proposed housing investments. In February 2025, the Senate voted down a bipartisan bill that would have seen $200 million put into the state’s Housing Incentive Fund.
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“(Former Gov. Doug) Burgum proposed investing $95 million — it died,” York said. “Gov. (Kelly) Armstrong proposed $105 million. Legislators denied both Republican governors’ requests. That record removed every excuse. This is not partisan gridlock. Republicans hold a legislative supermajority. They have the power to act.”
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North Dakota Democrats’ bid to add child care, data center bills falls short
"I think that those have far more to do with an election being in November than actually being sound policy," Armstrong said.
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House Minority Leader Rep. Zach Ista, D-Grand Forks, who attempted to introduce the child care bill in the House, said the Democrats' actions were not politically motivated.
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"This is being responsive to what the voters want," Ista said. "If we can't even have conversations about two issues that are important to constituents across the state, I don't know what our job is as a body anymore."
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North Dakota Legislature to consider full ban on kratom
The block was the first time a chamber in the North Dakota Legislature prevented a vote to add a bill in the special session from the floor, according to Sen. Jamie Selzler, D-Fargo. He acknowledged Hogue had the right to object to the vote, but he called it "sad and historic."
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"The Republican Party is not listening," he said. "If they were listening, they would be willing to talk about these things."
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ACLU comments on Flock Surveillance
Cody Schuler, ND ACLU, is in studio on Afternoons Live with Tyler Axness to discuss the increased use of surveillance and how that is impacting civil liberties.
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Legislature rejects Dem-led attempts to add childcare, data center moratorium for special session
During a press conference Friday morning, Sen. Jamie Selzler, D-Fargo, said the lawmakers were attempting to introduce the bills for discussion.
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“We just wanted to talk about it,” Selzler said. “Republicans are not listening, because if they were listening, they’d be willing to talk about these things.”
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Democrats’ bills on childcare assistance & pausing data center development fall in N.D. House & Senate
“In the House, I’ll tip my hat. They at least had the courage to go on the record and put their name behind their vote so they can be responsible to their constituents who can ask why didn’t you want to debate more childcare funding? Why didn’t you want to debate a brief pause in data center development?” House Minority Leader Zac Ista, a Dem-NPLer from Grand Forks, said.
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Data center nondisclosure bill lacks support in committee
Rep. Austin Foss, D-Foss, called the penalties under current law “a slap on the wrist.”
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He supported the bill because it includes the possibility that an industrial developer could have a permit revoked if a nondisclosure agreement is in place.
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“The crux of this bill is basically saying it’s not all on the public official, that both parties are in violation of that law,” Foss said.
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Legislators to consider future of state military museum in Bismarck
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Rep. Zachary Ista, D-District 43, said, “We really find ourselves with quite a dilemma now as state lawmakers are having to make a decision on this.
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“And as I look back to my prior support for the public-private partnership on this, I have some regrets about supporting that going forward. I think if I was to continue my legislative service, I’d take a much more skeptical view of these projects with this experience in mind.
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“Probably what we should have done is simply authorized the use of the Capitol grounds for this project and require it to be fully privately funded.”
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“I am bothered by prior reporting that wealthy donors affiliated with the oil and gas industry reneged on some commitments,” Ista said. “And, we just see that, at the end of the day, it’s North Dakota taxpayers that are going to bear this complete risk for tens of millions of dollars of project.
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Patients wary of governments, companies pushing AI as a rural healthcare solution
Several states want to use AI to analyze patients’ medical charts and remote monitoring devices to identify immediate or future health risks. North Dakota’s plans mention AI to “detect early signs of chronic disease and behavioral health conditions,” while New Hampshire’s discusses AI that identifies patients “at high risk of adverse drug events.”
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Check out these posts from national Democrats
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USPS whistleblower predicts ‘catastrophic’ effect on elections under Trump vote-by-mail order
The unnamed whistleblower predicted the result could be “foreseeable catastrophic disruption to our coming nationwide elections based on the reckless pursuit of readying a new, insufficiently tested, poorly planned mail-in ballot screening system.”
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The system contains several massive flaws and, with virtually no time to spare before the November elections, USPS officials kept on developing an online verification system in violation of a Massachusetts judge’s injunction, the whistleblower said.
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The Largest Data Centers Planned in Rural Counties
With a population of about 5,800 residents, Carson County has a lot of the same vulnerabilities that any other small, rural community would face in the fight against hyperscale data centers, which are funded by some of the wealthiest companies in the world.
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Share these Dem-NPL Graphics!
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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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