GRAND FORKS — With fewer than 50 days until November’s election, North Dakota U.S. Senate candidate Katrina Christiansen says a big part of what she’s hearing across the state is that government isn’t working.

“There are really serious problems that people want addressed, but we also have toxic cultural issues that won’t allow us to have constructive conversations,” she said. “It’s really challenging for people when we don’t talk about solutions to those things; that’s a failure of our system.”

Christiansen, a Democrat, is

running against incumbent Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer.

She has visited all of the state’s 53 counties, including

Grand Forks County last Saturday, when she marched during the annual Potato Bowl parade

. She said people are often surprised that she’s present at so many events.

It’s even become a campaign slogan: “Katrina, she shows up.”

“It was amazing. It went by so quickly and we had a lot of supporters out there and it was really encouraging,” Christiansen said of the Grand Forks parade. “(When) we were at the Bismarck parade and we had signs like that for the first time and we overheard a guy in the crowd say: ‘Katrina, she shows up. I like that.’ ”

She also recently released a new advertisement telling the story of a voter who’s planning on voting for former Republican President Donald Trump and for Christiansen, a Democrat. The history of split-ticket voting in the state, not voting entirely Republican or Democratic on a ballot, is something Christiansen said is key to her campaign.

“This seat was held by Democrats for nearly 60 years, and North Dakota hasn’t gone to a Democratic president since (President Lyndon B. Johnson),” Christiansen said. “But we’ve elected Democrats (into other offices), so we can get split-ticket voters.”

One of the biggest concerns she’s heard across the state is the rising cost of living. Christiansen said it’s an issue that stretches across the political spectrum, but she also believes other issues get in the way. She believes it’s often getting overshadowed by culture issues and differences that take the air out of the room.

This isn’t Christiansen’s first Senate campaign. She ran unsuccessfully against incumbent Republican Sen. John Hoeven in 2022. Since then, she believes she has grown as a candidate and that her ability to run a successful campaign has improved.

“It’s going amazingly well,” Christiansen said. “We’ve got our first attack ad up. We have got to remind people … why my opponent is not working for them.”

With some North Dakotans receiving ballots as soon as Friday, Sept. 20, part of Christiansen’s strategy is to keep getting out and meeting voters. She said it doesn’t matter whether they’re from the biggest cities or the smallest towns — she wants to meet people where they’re at.

“I don’t dismiss them,” she said. “I want these places to thrive.”

Democratic-NPL Chair Adam Goldwyn said Christiansen is showing up and doing the work.

“She’s a serious candidate with serious ambitions and serious aspirations to actually do real work for the people of North Dakota,” he said. “Christiansen’s campaign is a campaign for the freedom of all Americans and all North Dakotans.”

He added that her campaign will likely help down-ballot races and the enthusiasm for voting this election. No Dem-NPL candidates were eliminated in the June primary by not having enough votes, and the party has fielded candidates in 80% of legislative races this year.

“I think that she’s showing us all the way forward for all of our down-ballot candidates, driving up enthusiasm and volunteers and money for every candidate,” Goldwyn said.

Christiansen is preparing to debate Cramer on Oct. 2 on Prairie Public. In August, the candidates debated on Forum Communications columnist Rob Port’s “Plain Talk” podcast,

discussing issues from border security to the Farm Bill.

She also acknowledged that there are many hurdles for any Democratic candidate running for a statewide office. A Democratic candidate hasn’t served in a statewide office since Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, who lost to Cramer in 2018. Regardless, Christiansen wants people to think about what Cramer has actually accomplished when in office.

“He is incapable of figuring out how to tie things back and then push something out,” Christiansen said. “I’m not saying that he’s a bad politician. He’s just not a problem solver.”

Voigt covers government in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks.