MINOT — For years, a frequent complaint from North Dakota voters is that state lawmakers spend far too much time focused on the culture wars. Things like legislation seeking
extraordinary legal consequences
for librarians and teachers over books, or pointless resolutions
opposing same-sex marriage
that accomplish nothing other than to make our LGBTQ friends and neighbors feel unwelcome in our state. The sort of stuff you read about in headlines that makes you roll your eyes and wonder what the point of the Legislature is.
In fairness, not all lawmakers have these priorities, which frequently fall short of becoming law. The heart of the support of these initiatives is a rump caucus of populist Republicans.
Are those Republicans facing a comeuppance this primary season?
It’s possible.
In Minot-area District 3, Rep. Jeff Hoverson, a pastor who has frequently made statewide headlines with his erratic behavior, and Crystal Hendrickson, a political newcomer who shares Hoverson’s views and is campaigning with him, are facing a challenge that is very much focused on Hoverson’s priorities in office.
Tim Mihalick, a former member of the State Board of Higher Education, and Blaine DesLauriers, a retired banker, are focused on his vote against the extremely popular property tax relief North Dakotans are currently enjoying. In a campaign ad
released in recent weeks,
Mihalick and DesLauriers take a not-so-subtle jab at Hoverson for being one of just a handful of lawmakers to vote against the property tax relief backed by Gov. Kelly Armstrong.
“Like you, we’re fed up with party insiders ignoring the people,” DesLauriers says to the camera. “I mean, who votes against property tax cuts?” Mihalick adds.
Who? Well,
Hoverson did,
though he did invest a lot of time in a failed effort to pass
a blatantly unconstitutional law
mandating a display of the Ten Commandments in every K-12 and higher education classroom in the state.
Do the voters of District 3 want their elected leaders focused on meaningful policy reforms, or culture war ephemera? We’re going to find out in June.
Meanwhile, in District 33, Rep. Bill Tveit, who has spent his seven and a half years in office focused on things like trying to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on same sex marriage, is facing a similar challenge.
Tveit introduced
the deeply controversial
House Concurrent Resolution 3013 which, if passed, would have pointlessly asked the nation’s highest court to reconsider its decision striking down state bans on same-sex marriage.
He has also been
preoccupied with public bathroom designs,
passing legislation to make even bathrooms with completely-enclosed stalls illegal if they have a common sink area for washing hands, and school vouchers, which have little utility for his rural constituents who have no meaningful access to private schools.
Now Tveit, whose district is in the heart of North Dakota coal country, has come under fire from the coal industry for continuing to claim an endorsement from them that he doesn’t have.
In a radio ad,
as well as in social media postings, Tveit has touted support from the Lignite Energy Council. Yet in an interview with talk radio host Michael Bell, Jonathan Fortner, the president of that organization, says his group is backing Tveit’s primary challenger Mike Heger.
“Over the last few sessions, the constituents and the people that work in the industry that are constituents in District 33 have noticed the change in the voting habits and the policy interest that's there,”
Fortner told Bell.
“And so, over those past couple cycles, there's been a kind of a groundswell of ‘Can we find a better candidate? Can we find somebody who's going to do more to support the industry and the opportunities that are in front of us?’ and that's where candidate Mike Heger was able to step forward and put his hat in the ring.â€
“The committee got together, and they decided to vote for Mike Heger and Anna Novak in District 33. There's no secret to who CoalPAC is supporting,” Fortner continued. “It's just unfortunate that a candidate would be out there running an ad insinuating that they have the endorsement or support of the coal industry — the PAC — when that's not the case.”
To be clear, the coal industry doesn’t have a position on things like same sex marriage or school vouchers. That’s not their game. They’re the coal industry. But a group like the Lignite Energy Council has a membership that is very focused on electing people who will focus on their policy priorities.
Clearly, Tveit, who has been at the center of the culture wars in the Legislature, hasn’t maintained that focus.
Like Hoverson, could it cost him?
Again, in these races, as well as other primary competitions around the state, we’re going to find out what North Dakotans want. Is it quixotic, headline-grabbing tilts at the sort of divisive policy agendas that are tearing our country apart, or a more pragmatic focus on solving actual problems?
