{"id":142332,"date":"2018-04-08T06:00:48","date_gmt":"2018-04-08T11:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=142332"},"modified":"2018-04-08T08:24:11","modified_gmt":"2018-04-08T13:24:11","slug":"gop-convention-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=142332","title":{"rendered":"ND Republican Convention endoresments"},"content":{"rendered":"
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GRAND FORKS\u00a0 (AP)\u00a0 The more than 1,600 party faithful on Saturday endorsed state Sen. Kelly Armstrong of Dickinson for U.S. House, though Grafton state Sen. Tom Campbell and former U.S. Marine Tiffany Abentroth have signaled they will continue on to the primary, even though they did not get their party’s endorsement for the seat being vacated by Rep. Kevin Cramer, who is looking to unseat Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.<\/p>\n

A convention endorsement only guarantees a candidate a spot on the June 12 primary ballot and party support against any challengers.<\/p>\n

Any candidate may file petitions to run in the primary, although such challenges are rare. The most recent exception was in 2014 when former Microsoft executive Doug Burgum defeated North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem in the Republican primary for governor, after party faithful endorsed Stenehjem as their preferred candidate.<\/p>\n

Campbell, a wealthy potato farmer, has dug deep into his own pocket for the past several months to buy TV ads to raise his profile statewide. About three-quarters of the more than $1 million he has raised has come from himself, Federal Election Commission filings show.<\/p>\n

Campbell drew negative headlines last month with the revelation that he was paying convention registration fees for some delegates. The move is permitted by party rules, but some Republicans \u2014 including Armstrong and Abentroth \u2014 said it could be seen as vote buying in an endorsement battle. Though Armstrong had covered registrations for a handful of family members, Campbell had covered more than 60 people, most of whom reimbursed the party for fear their names would be disclosed.<\/p>\n

Any candidate could file petitions to run in the primary. The candidate must win the primary to run in the November general election.<\/p>\n

Delegates endorsed Cramer on Saturday. The Senate race has big stakes for the state and the nation, as Republicans seek to cling to a narrow majority in the chamber.<\/p>\n

Incumbent Attorney General Stenehjem, Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger, Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring and Public Service Commissioners Randy Christmann and Brian Kroshus are unopposed for the endorsement of Republican delegates.<\/p>\n

A Mandan businessman has won the GOP’s endorsement for secretary of state over the longest-serving Republican official in the North Dakota Capitol. Republican delegates at the GOP convention in Grand Forks on Saturday endorsed Will Gardner over Al Jaeger. Jaeger has served more than two decades in the office that is best known for supervising elections. The former Fargo real estate salesman was first elected in 1992.<\/p>\n

North Dakota Democrats held their convention last month in Grand Forks, endorsing Mac Schneider for Congress, state Rep. Joshua Boschee for secretary of state, state Sen. Jim Dotzenrod for agriculture commissioner, David Thompson for attorney general, Kylie Oversen for tax commissioner, and Casey Buchmann and Jean Brandt for public service commissioners<\/p>\n

Earlier…<\/p>\n

GRAND FORKS \u2014 Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., claimed his party\u2019s endorsement for the U.S. Senate race on Saturday, in front of a packed ballroom at Grand Forks\u2019 Alerus Center, where delegates at the GOP state convention voted for him unanimously.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Bismarck Tribune reports, in an address moments before the vote, Cramer laid out the high-stakes race, which could decide control of the chamber, touting his work in the House of Representatives and lamenting that Senate Democrats have been able \u201cto obstruct and block our progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt comes down to this,\u201d Cramer said. \u201cWhat kind of a nation do we want America to be, and what kind of legacy do we want to leave our children and our grandchildren?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0The endorsement sends Cramer into what will be one of the most closely watched races in the country. He\u2019ll face Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., who seeks to defend a seat she won by just a few thousand votes in 2012 in a state now dominated by Republicans — though White House scandal and the specter of a trade war with China has raised questions about GOP momentum.<\/div>\n
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Cramer laced into Heitkamp in his speech, calling her a closer ally of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer than North Dakotans. He ticked off a list of issues, from the Supreme Court to border security to \u201cthe basic right to human life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThis election is not really about Sen. Heitkamp or me,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about the direction of the nation and the soul of the United States Senate. There\u2019s much more at stake in November, including the balance of power in that once-great chamber. \u2026 One vote could sway these important issues to a liberal philosophy that favors big government and vast entitlement programs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Cramer also recalled his support for the Republican tax overhaul, regulatory rollbacks in the House and a lift on the oil export ban \u2014 though the latter has also been highly touted by Heitkamp.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u00a0Grand Forks\u00a0 (AP) North Dakota Republican convention delegates have endorsed state Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger<\/strong> to run for a second full term.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Rauschenberger went unchallenged for the endorsement Saturday in Grand Forks.<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old Republican was appointed in 2013 by Gov. Jack Dalrymple and elected by voters in 2014.<\/p>\n

State Democratic Party Chairwoman Kylie Oversen was endorsed last month by her party to run for the position.<\/p>\n

The Tax Department collects an assortment of state taxes, including taxes on income, sales, alcohol, tobacco, motor fuels, oil, natural gas, coal, telecommunications and financial institutio<\/p>\n

North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem<\/strong> has the approval of Republican convention delegates to run for another term.<\/p>\n

The former Grand Forks attorney and state legislator went unchallenged for the endorsement Saturday in Grand Forks.<\/p>\n

Stenehjem was first elected attorney general in 2000. He is running for his sixth term as the state’s top law enforcement officer.<\/p>\n

Democrats last month endorsed David Thompson for attorney general. Thompson is a trial lawyer from Grand Forks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GRAND FORKS\u00a0 (AP)\u00a0 The more than 1,600 party faithful on Saturday endorsed state Sen. Kelly Armstrong of Dickinson for U.S. House, though Grafton state Sen. Tom Campbell and former U.S. Marine Tiffany Abentroth have signaled they will continue on to the primary, even though they did not get their party’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":94266,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-142332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-state"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=142332"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":142343,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142332\/revisions\/142343"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/94266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=142332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=142332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=142332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}