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North Dakota, the land of endless horizons, wheat fields, and... political predictability? Not so fast. The notion that our beloved state is a monolithic red fortress wouldn’t hold water if depth were measured by the past few decades. The “deep red” label in states like ours is a type of determinism we must dispel. 
North Dakota hasn’t been a poster child for conservative dominance for long, and when it comes to policies instead of labels, North Dakotans have often shown a progressive streak. Not too long ago, the political winds were more of a gentle breeze than a gale-force squall of right-wing rhetoric. Our state has a history of electing Democrats and Republicans alike, often based on the merits of the candidates rather than the color of their banners.
What changed? 
We got information silos, partisan news networks blathering on for twenty-four hours a day, and social media algorithms designed to capture our attention and drive us toward the extremes while leaving a back door open for authoritarian propaganda and election interference. North Dakotans listening to their radios while working in the fields were served an unbalanced diet of vitriol and dishonesty that drove them toward anger or cynicism. The Citizens United decision supercharged all of it and gave money a greater voice than the people. 
But cynicism is not a leadership trait, and leaders take care of people, not money. 
Of course, no state in our great Union escaped this transformation. It happened in a blur, with the internet always within reach and social media ready for our every thought. But North Dakota, with its small, relational, personal type of politics, was especially vulnerable. Here, you know the people you’re electing, you know someone who knows them, you see them, and you call them by their first name.
The rapid changes in our information economy and unlimited, untraceable, out-of-state funds thanks to Citizens United created a toxic cocktail for our political landscape. And North Dakota’s relational charm? It became a double-edged sword. Our quaint, close-knit political landscape was no match for the corporate-consolidated media market and the rapid-fire social media blitz from Anywhere, USA. The tribalistic outrage machine diluted the power of our personal connections. Suddenly, our state politicians and local legislators were parroting the same divisive rhetoric from all corners of the internet.
At the same time, Citizens United was unleashing loads of dark money into our elections. Our small population, equivalent to that of a mid-sized city, made it easy to flip minds. 
But the same thing that made North Dakota easy to exploit is also what will save it. We’ve never entirely lost that relational piece, and after years of the rage machine, we’re all tired; the promises of those we put in higher office remain empty, the graft so flagrant that North Dakotans can’t miss it, even as in-state journalism dwindled. The culture war politics have reached exhausting heights in our past few legislative sessions, and North Dakotans take notice. We hear things, we see things—it’s a small state.
And it’s still cheap. Not long ago, popular  Democrats represented North Dakota at the federal level: Sen. Heitkamp (2018), Sen. Conrad (2013), Sen. Dorgan (2011), and Rep. Pomeroy (2011). They kept our state purple and sensible. We’re not far off from that. We still have the out-of-state money piece to deal with, which is why we need grassroots support—the kind that carried us to victory in decades past and the kind that will again.
It’s time to take the megaphone back from the mega-donors. Investing in a North Dakota campaign is not throwing money into the wind - quite the opposite. It’s about planting seeds in fertile ground. Each dollar stretches further here, each volunteer hour has a greater impact, and each conversation with a voter can change a mind.
So, to my fellow North Dakotans and our friends across the country who care about the heartland: Keep the faith. North Dakota isn’t a lost cause but a battleground for the soul of our democracy. Together, we can change the political winds and prove that the spirit of our state is as unyielding as the prairie itself.
In the words of Mark Twain, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” North Dakota isn’t deep red; it’s deeply resilient. And with your support, we’re ready to show it.
Running a campaign that can stand up to the tidal wave of dark money requires resources. I humbly ask for your help in this fight. Your contribution, no matter the size, can make a significant difference. Help us take the megaphone back from the mega-donors. Help us plant those seeds of change. Because we’re not just a cheap date—we’re a smart investment.
In my last two posts, I shared my 2022 and 2023 Memorial Day speeches, and I purposely shied away from any kind of partisan messaging. On Monday, I attended the same ceremony at which I spoke last year. There, at the perimeter of white grave stones marking the military section of the cemetery, a man in a day-glo yellow t-shirt was soliciting signatures for a measure to end property taxes in North Dakota.
It struck me as both inappropriate and unpatriotic. It made me angry. There I was, being purposely inconspicuous and apolitical, while an ally of one of the candidates I might face in November was soliciting signatures for a measure championed by that candidate.
Day-glo Man framed the measure as being about “freedom.” He said that veterans like him didn’t serve to protect property taxes. Funny that he would automatically exclude me, with my Marine Corps jacket and shorter-than-regulation haircut, from those who have served. Funny, but not surprising. Like too many others, he assumes that only people who agree with him are patriots and that freedom is defined only by the things he likes—the state legislature holding the purse strings for political subdivisions, for instance. 
As much as I hate to admit it, running for office makes me, by definition, a politician. There may have been some inside-baseball in this post. (I like baseball, by the way, but I don’t really care for sports metaphors in politics.) I hope there was something you found worth your time, thank you for reading.

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