Port Column Blasts NDGOP Elites After Incumbents Boycott State Convention

Jerol Gohrick, chair of NDGOP District 2, took the floor at the All Seasons Arena in Minot on March 28 and proposed stripping the Republican ballot label from every statewide incumbent who skipped the convention. Delegates passed the motion 318-312. Two days later, Forum News Service columnist Rob Port named it for what it is in the Jamestown Sun: a power grab by party elites over voters.

Port's column, "NDGOP party elites want elected officials to obey them, not you," made the case plainly. "Those election results, whether you like them or not, represent the will of the people," he wrote. "The NDGOP does not."

Every statewide incumbent stayed away from the March 28-29 convention, including Gov. Kelly Armstrong, Attorney General Drew Wrigley, Rep. Julie Fedorchak, and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring. Armstrong, who was not consulted when the party set convention dates, attended a friend's wedding instead. When the NDGOP previously censured him for vetoing a book ban bill and signing a property tax measure, he offered three words in response: "I don't care."

Fedorchak was equally unmoved. "When I look at the convention, there was just a few hundred people who attended," she said, adding she was "much more focused on the broader population of North Dakota."

The Saturday vote was narrow and chaotic. Several delegates had already left by the time the 318-312 tally came in. An attempt Sunday to reverse it failed 311-297. NDGOP Chair Matthew Simon acknowledged during debate that under current state law the party cannot legally control how candidates appear on the ballot, leaving the resolution symbolic for now.

Senate Majority Leader David Hogue, who participated as a delegate, called the incumbents' absence a "missed opportunity" but rejected brand-stripping outright: "The short answer is no. The long answer is hell no."

Jamestown's Rep. Bernie Satrom, who chairs NDGOP District 12, expressed concern that the convention's decision damaged the party, a notable position for the Stutsman County Republican as the primary season approaches.

The convention also collapsed on endorsements, backing candidates in only two of seven statewide races. In the U.S. House vote, delegates chose challenger Alex Balazs over Fedorchak, a replay of 2024, when Balazs held the NDGOP's endorsement and received 4 percent of the general election vote.

Sen. Chuck Walen of New Town vowed to sponsor legislation giving convention-endorsed candidates a formal ballot advantage. If it passes, the fight over the Republican brand stops being symbolic and starts reshaping how North Dakota's elected Republicans keep their seats.