Dakota Beacon

I am a confession to make, I am gloating today.  Not because of anything I have done but because of some great people who went out and worked their tails off and won.

In spite of millions of dollars spent to defeat them by their governor, they won.

In spite of false accusations by a prominent Republican who leads a PAC, they won.

In spite of the media and a woke blogger who tried to make a mockery of the process, they won.

In spite of the governors PAC making claims that his candidates were conservative the grassroots saw through the smoke and mirrors, they won.

In spite of the rank and file, Republicans not supporting their endorsement, they won.

In spite of no support from their state Republican party, they won.

Everywhere you look in the state of North Dakota you see winners who were endorsed at their local convention and now will be the candidate for the GOP in November.

Because of this we won’t have to worry about the legislature bending to the governor’s will because he lost on Tuesday, and they won.

Because they won, other Republican legislators may now stand up and not cower for fear of retribution.

Because they won, we won!

Now we can move forward in confidence that political disputes are always decided at the ballot box.

A list of those who won:

District 8                    Jeff Magrum  

District 15                  Judy Estenson

District 33                  Keith Boehm

House Races

District 3                    Lori VanWinkle

District 3                    Jeff Hoverson

District 7                    Matthew Heiman

District 8                    SuAnn Olson

District 8                    Brandon Prichard

District 19                  Karen Anderson

District 24                  Cole Christensen

District 33                  Bill Tveit

District 39                  Mike Schatz

Dist 9b                        Donna Henderson

This list is not intended to slight any of those who ran unopposed or those who received ten's of thousands of dollars from the governor PAC (Dakota Leadership) and won or those who were attacked by Finken PAC (Brighter Future Alliance) and lost.  It is a list of known conservatives who stood up and worked hard to win the support of their district voters and won.

Thank you to all the candidates who invested time and money to participate in this great process!

I also wanted to share a great article written by former Burleigh County Auditor on his perspective on the GOP.

By Kevin J. Glatt, Bismarck

June 10, 2022 10:00 AM

For the many years I have been a keen observer of politics. What I am currently observing is an implosion of the Republican Party.

From my vantage point it started at the top with a Democrat being elected as the Republican governor and then U.S. senator. Next a Republican apostle ran for Senate by going rogue and sidestepping the party convention process; the current governor followed.

We have witnessed the Republican governor being sued by the legislative supermajority of his own party and a Republican state auditor being strong-armed by this same legislature. A separate faction of Republican legislators has formed, creating acrimony and discontent within.

We are now observing the degeneration at the local (and most important) grass root level. Rank and file Republicans, who at the local level paid district party dues and attended local district conventions, who voted and endorsed candidates, are being told by their own governor, legislative leaders, and district party officers to support non-endorsed legislative candidates. District party funds are being funneled to non-endorsed candidate campaigns.

A strong political party is characterized by the organizational extensiveness at the grassroots level. The current actions by the governor, legislative leaders, and district party officers lending support and funding to non-endorsed legislative candidates undermines the party.

Also listed below is an interesting article on Brighter Future Alliance.

In Forum

By Jeremy Turley

May 31, 2022

BISMARCK — A campaign finance group targeting conservative North Dakota candidates with controversial attack ads asserts it’s working to inform voters, but critics have labeled the Brighter Future Alliance a “dark money” organization due to its lack of transparent funding sources.

The Bismarck-based group had spent about $60,000 on political advertising this year as of Wednesday, May 25, according to campaign finance filings.

Many of the ads paid for by Brighter Future Alliance oppose Republican legislative candidates, including Reps. Jeff Hoverson, Jeff Magrum and Sebastian Ertelt, as well as first-time contenders Brandon Prichard and Ryan Eckroth.

The group has also spent nearly $29,000 on negative ads about Fargo City Commissioner Dave Piepkorn, including one mailer calling the local politician “an embarrassment” to the city.

Pat Finken, the group’s chairman and the former CEO of Bismarck-based advertising firm Odney, said Brighter Future Alliance will spend more than $100,000 prior to the primary and local elections on June 14.

The nonprofit group has been active in North Dakota public life for the last decade, and in 2020, it spent more than $250,000 on political advertising — the vast majority of which was paid to Odney.

Finken said the group’s goal is “to give voters the information they need to make good decisions,” adding Brighter Future Alliance is also involved in making regulatory proposals and mobilizing voters.

“We wear our mission on our sleeve, and we play by the rules,” Finken said in an email.

The group is organized as an “independent expenditure filer” under North Dakota’s campaign finance laws, meaning it is not required to publicly list its sources of funding.

Finken declined to voluntarily disclose the group’s backers, but he specifically stated that Brighter Future Alliance had not received donations from Gov. Doug Burgum, who has shelled out six-figure sums for political ads through the Dakota Leadership PAC, or state Sen. Jim Roers, who recently tangled with Piepkorn over a proposed Fargo development.

Magrum refers to the group as “the darker future alliance” because of its untrackable funding sources and “deceitful” advertising campaigns.

One of the group’s mailers featuring Magrum, now a candidate for state Senate, says the Hazelton Republican “voted to defund law enforcement.” Another ad says he failed to support the North Dakota National Guard.

While Magrum voted against proposed budgets for law enforcement agencies and the National Guard in 2021, he said his opposition was to specific aspects of the bills, not the agencies or the services they provide.

For instance, he said, he voted against the National Guard’s budget because it didn’t contain enough funding for first responders’ equipment. Magrum added he’s a huge advocate for the police and the military.

The group has sent out similar attack ads about Ertelt, who is also running for the upper chamber. The Gwinner Republican said the group’s deep pockets and willingness to put out inaccurate information makes the playing field uneven for candidates with limited funds.

“I’m very comfortable defending my record,” Ertelt said. “It’s harder to defend against misleading statements.”

Ertelt, who sponsored a failed bill last year to increase transparency in campaign finance disclosures, said he would support legislation to require groups like Brighter Future Alliance to divulge their funding sources. Magrum agreed, saying, “It’s definitely dark money, and it needs to be addressed.”

Piepkorn said the Brighter Future Alliance’s attacks on him have been “awful,” adding that they made his wife cry.

Being criticized by a mostly anonymous group is frustrating, but the city commissioner said the organization’s campaign against him may backfire because Fargoans are turned off by the aggressive tactics.

“This has helped me tremendously,” Piepkorn said. “I have political opponents telling me they’re going to vote for me