Jun 12, 2012


Wrapping up highlights from the North Dakota Primary Elections on Tuesday….

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – North Dakota voters have resoundingly defeated a proposal that would have made the state the first in the nation to abolish local property taxes. Unofficial returns last night showed voters rejecting the constitutional amendment. The amendment drew opposition from North Dakota public school teachers and local governments.

FARGO, N.D. (AP) – North Dakota residents have pushed the
University of North Dakota’s Fighting Sioux nickname closer to
retirement. Voters overwhelmingly decided yesterday to dump the
school’s moniker. The results send the matter back to the state
Board of Higher Education, which is expected to re-retire the
nickname.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – A constitutional amendment to make it
tougher for state government to regulate religious practices has
failed. Critics of the idea say it wasn’t necessary because the
U.S. and North Dakota constitutions already protect religious
freedom. Supporters say the amendment would have restored
protections of religious rights that were eroded by a U.S. Supreme
Court decision in 1990.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – North Dakota voters have approved a change to the state constitution to make it easier for state legislators to land state government appointments.
The North Dakota Legislature voted last year to put the measure on the ballot. Voters rejected a similar proposal in June 2008.
North Dakota’s constitution now bars lawmakers from accepting state appointments if the job’s pay has increased during the legislator’s term.
The change would allow a legislator to take a state job if the pay went up – as long as the increase wasn’t beyond what the Legislature gave to state workers.

MANDAN, N.D. (AP) – Former North Dakota Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp has congratulated U.S. Representative Rick Berg for his victory in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate nomination. He defeated challenger Duane Sand. Heitkamp ran unopposed in the Democratic primary on Tuesday. She and Berg will now face off for the Senate seat in November.
Heitkamp says that if she is elected, she will work on creating jobs and balancing the budget.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – North Dakota Republicans have chosen Kevin Cramer over fellow state regulator Brian Kalk as their candidate for U.S. House.
Kalk lost despite having the backing of North Dakota’s Republican Party. GOP activists picked Kalk as their favored candidate during the party’s April convention. Cramer skipped the convention to run in the primary.
Both Kalk and Cramer are members of the state Public Service Commission.
Cramer now will run against Democrat Pam Gulleson this fall.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – Republican Kirsten Baesler and Democrat
Tracy Potter have advanced to face off in November for the state’s
top elected school official. They finished as the top two finalists
for North Dakota superintendent of public instruction. Incumbent
Democrat Wayne Sanstead is stepping down from the post after 28
years.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – In a North Dakota House Republican primary clash of three influential incumbents, Duane DeKrey (duh-KRAY’) was the odd man out.
DeKrey and Reps. Robin Weisz and Jon Nelson were put into the same region when the Legislature redrew North Dakota’s political map last November.
One of the three had to lose in Tuesday’s primary, and Nelson and Weisz came in first and second.
DeKrey is a former state senator. He was elected to the House in 1994. He is chairman of the North Dakota House’s Judiciary Committee.
Weisz is chairman of the House’s Human Services Committee. Nelson serves on the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee. They’ve been in the House in 1996.
Their district covers Kidder, Sheridan, Wells and Pierce counties and western Benson County in central North Dakota.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – Veteran Mandan Republican state Rep.
RaeAnn Kelsch’s income tax problems have ended her time in the
Legislature.
Kelsch conceded defeat Tuesday as she trailed incumbent Rep.
Todd Porter and challenger Nathan Toman in her district’s
Republican House primary.
Porter and Toman will run as the district’s Republican House
candidates in the fall.

FARGO, N.D. (AP) – Voters in North Dakota’s largest city have
approved the extension of a half-cent sales tax to fund
infrastructure and flood protection in a narrow vote that likely
falls just short of requiring an automatic recount.
The Fargo measure passed by an unofficial 63 votes Tuesday, out
of nearly 22,000 that were cast. City Auditor Steve Sprague tells
The Forum newspaper that a recount would have been required had the
margin been 55 votes.
The results must still be certified as official.
The half-cent sales tax expires this month. If the vote results
stand, the tax will return Jan. 1 and last for 20 years, generating
an estimated $11 million per year initially.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – The voter turnout in Tuesday’s North
Dakota primary was the biggest in at least 30 years.
Unofficial totals say more than 175,000 people voted in the
election.
Secretary of State Al Jaeger says that represents 33 percent of
the number of North Dakotans who are eligible to vote. And he says
there are still some late absentee ballots to be counted.
Jaeger says the turnout is the biggest since 1980, when the
records started being kept.
It’s bigger than 1992, when a Democratic primary contest for
governor resulted in 32 percent turnout. Almost 147,000 people
voted in that election. This year’s turnout rate is similar because
North Dakota’s population has grown.
North Dakota voters had primary races for the U.S. House and
Senate and four ballot measures to decide.