Update on the nature of North Dakota’s political leadership

MINOT — In 2018, in an early victory for the now-emerging populist wing of the North Dakota Republican Party, a Mandan man named Will Gardner won the party’s endorsement for secretary of state over longtime President Al Jaeger. He withdrew from the race after being convicted in 2006 of a misdemeanor for peeping through the windows of a sorority house on the NDSU campus.

came to light.

My reporting in 2021

accelerated the ouster of state Rep. Luke Simons

due to a documented pattern of harassment of legislative staff and other legislators.

During subsequent divorce proceedings

his now ex-wife and two of his children spoke of years of horrific physical abuse.

In 2022, Attorney General Drew Wrigley alleged massive budget overruns in his office by his predecessor, longtime Republican Wayne Stenehjem, who died. This caused a cascade of scandals. Stenehjem’s assistant, Liz Broker,

ordered the deletion of email accounts

both Stenehjem and his deputy Troy Seibel,

who recently passed away after a long battle with alcohol.

Earlier this year, Stenehjem’s friend and political ally, Rep. Jason Dockter,

was found guilty by a jury of a misdemeanor

in connection with a sweetheart rental deal he entered into with the Attorney General’s Office.

In February 2023, my reports revealed that two members of Rep. Donna Henderson’s family had

married to a member of a racist cult based in Missouri.

Early October 2023

State Representative Brandon Pritchard made national headlines with a series of vile, homophobic social media posts. Shortly thereafter, the newly hired executive director of the North Dakota Republican Party

resigned

after my reporting exposed a long history of bigoted and misogynistic posts on social media. Earlier that month, the party’s leadership committee

voted to get rid of their code of conduct.

In August of this year, former Senator Ray Holmberg pleaded guilty to federal charges related to

travel around the world to sexually abuse children.

In December 2023, Rep. Nico Rios used

“racially offensive and discriminatory”

remarks directed at the Williston Police Department officers who arrested him for drunk driving. Rios accused one of the officers of using a gay slur and told him that his home country, England, was being overrun by Muslim immigrants.

Rios is just one of 11 state lawmakers and three executive branch officials — most of them Republicans —

who have been arrested for drunk driving since 2006.

State Representative Claire Corey, who is currently running for re-election in Grand Forks,

is the most recent.

Two Republican legislative candidates—Jared Hendricks of District 10 and Dan Johnston of District 24—attended the “Stop the Steal” protest that turned into a violent attack on Congress on Jan. 6. Hendrix said in

subsequent radio interviews

that he was behind the barriers of the Capitol building. Johnston’s son, Damian Johnston, former leader of the North Dakota Young Republicans,

was arrested for entering the Capitol building during the riot.

Former state legislator Rick Becker, who ran for the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year,

collected money

for Johnston’s legal defense.

Last week, Senator Scott Meyer, seeking re-election in Grand Forks,

apologized for sending threatening messages to his Democratic opponent

after what he described as a night of drinking.

This is a pattern of behavior, my friends. North Dakotans should expect better.