Anti-abortion Democrat tries to flip North Dakota’s only House seat

As Democrats nationally marketing campaign on abortion entry following the Supreme Courtroom’s June ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, a red-state Democrat is bucking the development.

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Democrat Mark Haugen, who’s difficult Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) for North Dakota’s at-large congressional district, is operating a marketing campaign centered on key points for the state: the 2023 farm invoice and enhancing entry to healthcare for rural residents. However it’s his place on abortion that’s drawing consideration, because it units him other than most different candidates in his occasion this cycle.

“I by no means hid my pro-life beliefs,” Haugen advised the Washington Examiner in an interview this week. “Everyone knew I am pro-life. I am Catholic, and I am very energetic within the Catholic group right here in Bismarck.”

“Though we’re a minority,” Haugen mentioned, “we’re a voice on the market.”

Haugen is aware of his odds are steep: Armstrong carried 69% of the state’s vote in 2020, and the seat is seen as a secure one for Republicans by nonpartisan election analysts.

“It is robust and a deep-red state for Democrats,” he mentioned, including, “We’re working as onerous as we are able to. Democrats, we at all times know we have now to outwork our opponent.”

Haugen mentioned he’s making the most effective case he can to voters as he travels the state, joking he has been to “the Crystal Springs relaxation cease 10 instances,” a spot close to the middle of North Dakota.

An unbiased marketing campaign by Cara Mund, a Bismarck native and former Miss America operating as a pro-abortion rights candidate, might additionally shake up the race. However Haugen didn’t seem involved she would lower into his assist.

“She’s going to remove from each events,” Haugen mentioned. “So I suppose it is anyone’s guess how a lot of that pie she’s going to slice up.”

Dozens of anti-abortion Home Democrats, a lot of them Catholic, have been in workplace as not too long ago as 2010, however these lawmakers have since misplaced reelection or chosen to not run. One such former member, Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL), notably misplaced a major problem from a pro-abortion rights candidate in 2020 by a slim margin.

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), who holds anti-abortion views, narrowly defeated a pro-abortion rights major challenger earlier this yr and is taken into account the final anti-abortion Democrat within the Home.

If Haugen have been to be elected to Congress, the ranks of anti-abortion Democrats within the chamber would primarily double.

Requested how he would navigate turning into one thing of a figurehead for anti-abortion Democrats and the way he may bridge that divide inside his occasion, Haugen likened it to the variations between centrists and progressives extra broadly and mentioned the occasion wants reasonable, “blue canine Democrats.”

“We are able to take that centrist message and attain throughout the aisle to the Republicans,” he mentioned. “I believe that is most likely the course I’d take.”

Haugen mentioned the occasions of Jan. 6 ought to be proof that “for our democracy to perform and work for society and all residents,” legislators have to work collectively and compromise with each other throughout occasion traces.

“Compromise means you are not going to get the whole lot you need,” he mentioned. “You are going to have to present just a little, take just a little. There’s simply an excessive amount of of each side of the events which are entrenching themselves to the proper, to the left. And I hope we are able to simply develop that center coalition.”

Compromise was a key think about Haugen’s pitch to his personal occasion about with the ability to signify it on the poll. Some members of the North Dakota Democratic-Nonpartisan League Occasion, the state’s affiliate of the Democratic Occasion and the results of a historic merger between events within the Progressive Period, objected to supporting him as their candidate resulting from his views on abortion. However a decision to rethink assist of Haugen failed final month, because the occasion determined to proceed its assist of his candidacy regardless of variations in views on abortion.

Haugen mentioned the choice to proceed supporting his candidacy reveals the occasion understood that he’s “pro-life, but it surely shouldn’t be a litmus take a look at within the Democratic NPL, and I agree with that.”

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Regardless of the consequence, Haugen mentioned, he’s having fun with the chance to run for Congress.

“It is a privilege to have the ability to signify your occasion, signify the individuals in North Dakota, and have interaction in a political debate, and that is what I cherish, that is what I do with gratitude whether or not I win or lose,” he mentioned.