Reaction pours in to North Dakota statewide incumbents skipping GOP Convention

MINOT, N.D. (KMOT) - Later this month, state Republicans will come to Minot for this year’s convention, ahead of the midterm elections.

But the convention will have a noticeable absence: all of the statewide officeholders whose seats are up for election this year.

It comes amid a growing rift over the direction of the party.

This year’s state GOP convention will not include the seven statewide officeholders up for reelection, including Representative Julie Fedorchak.

The candidates are choosing to bypass their own party’s endorsement and focus on the June primary instead.

Lawmakers said there are two paths for incumbents to be endorsed: attend the state convention or collect voter signatures.

Pat Finken, a longtime figure in North Dakota politics, said endorsement does not mean you are the final candidate on the ballot.

“We’ve always had the option of then, if you want, you can either go to the convention. If you lose, still go to the primary. Or you can just bypass the convention process all over,” said Finken.

Senator Paul Thomas, a Republican from Velva, thinks incumbents want to go back to the traditional view of how the party gets elected.

“Whether that is providing financial resources, providing a volunteer network that’s able to go and help that candidate door-knock, resources such as signs,” said Thomas.

Meantime, Finken said candidates don’t believe party leadership represents the vast majority of rank-and-file Republicans across the state.

“Until that’s fixed, I don’t know why anybody would go to the convention,” said Finken.

Thomas noted that frustration over how the 2024 convention played out may also be pushing candidates towards a different approach.

That convention ended with drama over the U.S. House nomination.

Following protest votes by some delegates, no candidate received enough votes for the endorsement.

Fedorchak withdrew but went on to win the primary and general elections, anyway.

State GOP Party Chair Matthew Simon addressed the situation in a news conference earlier this week.

“Unfortunately, some of our elected officials have chosen to disregard the roughly 1,000 delegates who were looking forward to hearing from them at the convention. The Republican voters deserve better than that,” said Simon.

Still, Finken said the option to choose your own path is what keeps democracy alive.

“There’s ebb and flow in all these things. The fact that we have that option is vitally important of the success of the Republican party and democracy as a whole,” said Finken.

The convention runs March 28-29.

The North Dakota Monitor reports Governor Kelly Armstrong is not attending the convention either, citing plans to attend a friend’s wedding.

The GOP said two candidates seeking the party’s endorsement for statewide office met the Sunday filing deadline.

That’s U.S. House candidate Alex Balazs as well as Deven Styczynski, who is running to serve on the Public Service Commission.