North Dakota
Hennen: Cramer must want a 'big tent' GOP in ND
Sen. Kevin Cramer is headed for a second term in one of the world’s most exclusive clubs, the United States Senate. Having first defeated incumbent Sen. Heidi Heitkamp by 11 points in 2016, he recently cruised to an even more comfortable 33-point victory over his Democratic opponent, Katrina Christiansen.
It’s been quite a storybook journey for the kid from Kindred, North Dakota. His political service began with his work for a little-known statewide candidate in 1984. Next Cramer began working for and then leading the North Dakota Republican Party at a time when Democrats controlled almost all the levers of political power in the state. Cramer was elected party chairman in 1991. He served in this role until 1993, making him the youngest person to hold that position in the state’s history.
Interestingly, even after attaining elected office, Cramer has never stopped building the state GOP. In the just-completed election cycle, two political action committees he controls contributed nearly $175,000 to North Dakota Republicans at every level. In addition to his leadership PACS, his re-election campaign gave nearly $50,000 to the Republican Party. As impressive as the amount is, the diversity of the recipients is more so. Call them MAGA, Bastiat or just conservative disruptors, Cramer supported them. Call them moderate, establishment or even liberal, he supported them. The one thing they all are is Republican.
Cramer no doubt remembers those challenging political times when Republicans were in the minority in North Dakota. Now the only political fights seem to have Republicans fighting other Republicans. So when conservative groups were running ads against moderate Republicans, Cramer helped level the playing field. An example would be his $5,000 contribution to District 10 legislative candidate Steve Swiontek.
When more establishment types ran ads against disruptors, Cramer helped level the playing field, having given $5,000 to another District 10 legislative candidate Jared Hendrix. He also made contributions to the campaigns of Kelly Armstrong, Julie Fedorchak, Josh Gallion, and legislative candidates Jim Kasper, Ben Koppleman and Michelle Powers. Additionally, there were donations to Districts 4, 8, 9 and 12 ND GOP candidate committees.
According to the same recent Federal Election Commission filings reporting Cramer’s donations, Sen. John Hoeven’s Dakota PAC contributed $10,000 to U.S. House candidate Fedorchak and $10,000 to Gov. Doug Burgum’s campaign for president. The rest of his contributions were to U.S. Senate races elsewhere, which is what the leadership PACs are most often utilized for, and a small amount to his legislative district in Bismarck. Hoeven also gave donations to his Senate colleagues who were not up for reelection, but oddly none to Cramer.
Cramer’s contributions might be a way of building bridges between factions of North Dakota Republicans or pushing back on Republican infighting. He is fond of saying, “Politics only works by addition.” His first foray into big-time politics was when Lee Atwater was the Republican National Committee chairman who clearly articulated the “big tent” theory and never lost sight of who the real adversaries are, the Democrats.
BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – With federal health care tax credits set to expire, rural hospitals in the state warn the ripple effect could strain their budgets while they are already operating on thin margins.
The Emergency Department at Jamestown Regional Medical Center is gearing up for more patients to come into their doors, uninsured, starting Jan. 1.
“We could be affected as early as January of the coming year. So it would happen very, very quickly. And nobody really knows what’s going to happen,” said Mike Delfs, the CEO of Jamestown Regional Medical Center.
Many rural residents are on the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Since premiums are predicted to spike significantly, some people will drop insurance, and they will be forced to go to the ER when they get sick. Hospitals cannot refuse emergency patients, and will have to shoulder the cost on thin margins.
“We would be looking at anticipated bad debt, but to what degree we don’t even know, and it is kind of scary to think about,” said Delfs.
Hospital leadership and staff say that the uncertainty is wearing on them, on top of the common stressors rural providers have to deal with.
As of now, they say their best bet is to hope that Congress can put aside partisan differences and come up with a solution.
“We have real people who are either going to lose their insurance or its going to get so expensive they literally can’t afford it. And the downstream effect of that is now you are endangering hospitals in rural locations just by their mere viability,” said Delfs.
According to hospital leadership, without congressional action in 2026, the end of the year could leave the hospital with nearly one million dollars in unpaid medical bills.
North Dakota’s Republican congressional delegation says the Rural Health Transformation Fund will greatly benefit rural hospitals and blames democrats for voting against their healthcare plan.
Copyright 2025 KFYR. All rights reserved.
North Dakota State Bison (8-2) at Pepperdine Waves (7-2)
Malibu, California; Tuesday, 5 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: North Dakota State visits Pepperdine after Avery Koenen scored 22 points in North Dakota State’s 83-55 victory against the Eastern Illinois Panthers.
The Waves are 4-0 on their home court. Pepperdine is 1-0 when it turns the ball over less than its opponents and averages 18.2 turnovers per game.
The Bison are 3-0 on the road. North Dakota State scores 77.4 points and has outscored opponents by 15.3 points per game.
Pepperdine averages 8.1 made 3-pointers per game, 2.8 more made shots than the 5.3 per game North Dakota State gives up. North Dakota State averages 6.2 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.1 fewer made shots on average than the 7.3 per game Pepperdine allows.
TOP PERFORMERS: Seleh Harmon averages 2.7 made 3-pointers per game for the Waves, scoring 10.4 points while shooting 44.4% from beyond the arc. Elli Guiney is shooting 47.3% and averaging 14.4 points.
Molly Lenz averages 1.7 made 3-pointers per game for the Bison, scoring 7.8 points while shooting 39.5% from beyond the arc. Koenen is averaging 18.2 points, 10 rebounds and 1.6 steals.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
WEST FARGO — Three incumbents from West Fargo will run for reelection to their state legislative seats.
North Dakota Sen. Judy Lee and Reps. Jim Jonas and Austen Schauer, all Republicans, announced Sunday, Dec. 14, that they would campaign to represent District 13 in the state Legislature. The district covers much of north West Fargo.
Special to The Forum
Lee was first elected to the North Dakota Senate in 1994. Jonas and Schauer have served in the state House since 2023 and 2019, respectively.
The three ran unopposed in the 2022 election. The next election for their seats is in 2026.
Forum file photo
Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.
Peace plans ready to be presented to Russia in days, says Zelenskyy
Alaska Natives defy Democrats, champion push to revive Arctic drilling that Biden shut down
Man with 12 arrests this year busted again after allegedly attacking doctor in hospital elevator: report
Black Lives Matter OKC leader charged with wire fraud, money laundering in alleged $3.15M embezzlement scheme
Florida designates Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as foreign terrorist organizations, DeSantis says
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Peace plans ready to be presented to Russia in days, says Zelenskyy
Video: Brown Student Has Survived Two School Shootings
DC police accused of manipulating crime stats as federal probe finds thousands of misclassified cases
All eyes on Italy as Mercosur deal hangs in the balance
Australia announces strict new gun laws. Here’s how it can act so swiftly
-
Alaska1 week agoHowling Mat-Su winds leave thousands without power
-
Texas1 week agoTexas Tech football vs BYU live updates, start time, TV channel for Big 12 title
-
Washington7 days agoLIVE UPDATES: Mudslide, road closures across Western Washington
-
Iowa1 week agoMatt Campbell reportedly bringing longtime Iowa State staffer to Penn State as 1st hire
-
Iowa3 days agoHow much snow did Iowa get? See Iowa’s latest snowfall totals
-
Iowa1 day agoAddy Brown motivated to step up in Audi Crooks’ absence vs. UNI
-
Miami, FL1 week agoUrban Meyer, Brady Quinn get in heated exchange during Alabama, Notre Dame, Miami CFP discussion
-
Cleveland, OH1 week agoMan shot, killed at downtown Cleveland nightclub: EMS