ND governor candidates debate

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Candidates for North Dakota governor tackled such issues as mental health, drug addiction treatment, and oil and property tax policy during a debate on Thursday.

Republican Party candidate Doug Burgum, Democratic state Rep. Marvin Nelson and Marty Riske of the Libertarian Party laid out their priorities Thursday night as part of a Greater North Dakota Chamber-sponsored policy summit.

Nelson says the state has not handled mental health properly since the 1980s farm crisis and that he does not “see a commitment of any kind.”

Burgum says the problem will take a coalition effort and that it is “not something the state can solve itself.”

The candidates debated briefly on the Legislature’s move to change the state’s oil tax structure last session.

Riske says the changes appeared to have been a good deal for North Dakota.