North Dakota
Former Grand Forks lawmaker Corey Mock says appointment to Governor’s Cabinet was 'totally unexpected'
GRAND FORKS — No one may have been more surprised than Corey Mock when new North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong asked him to join the administration as the state’s chief information officer.
Mock, who for years served Grand Forks as a lawmaker representing the Democratic Party, is one of 12 Cabinet members the incoming Republican governor announced shortly after the November election.
Armstrong’s invitation to serve “was totally unexpected,” Mock said, noting that it came after his “difficult” decision in early 2024 to not seek a fifth term in the Legislature.
The appointment apparently raised eyebrows in some strongly partisan sectors, but Mock said he has gotten nothing but favorable responses.
“I’ve only received messages of congratulations, and that’s from Republicans, Democrats and independents alike. It’s been quite evident that everyone agrees this is a nonpartisan office — there are no Republican and Democratic computers.”
Regarding his appointment, “I never thought of the political side of it until after I’d read one of the first articles,” said Mock, who served on the state’s Information Technology Committee for 16 years in the Legislature. “To me, this has never been a partisan position.”
From his perspective, political ideology is the “last (consideration) in this role — or any role, really,” he said.
“I’m an institutionalist, and proud of it. If anything, during my time in the Legislature, I became known for being stubbornly independent and focused on solving underlying problems, versus being a champion for a specific solution.”
As head of NDIT, Mock said his top priorities will be to ensure that, as an agency, “we continue to provide exceptional service.”
Mock, who served from 2008 to 2024 in the North Dakota Legislature — eight years representing District 42 and eight years representing District 18 — is obviously proud of the strides NDIT has made.
“We are the most connected state in terms of broadband access in the country,” he said. “It is an incredible accomplishment that’s taken decades of hard work and something that we should all be proud of.”
Among the most pressing challenges NDIT faces are issues related to cybersecurity, Mock said.
“We are one of the leaders in having a whole-of-government cybersecurity protection. You never want to need it, but when there is an incident, it’s so helpful having consolidated expertise that can step in and assist really every level of government.
“And technology is rapidly changing,” he said. “Looking at this session, we’ve got AI (artificial intelligence). … We know that there’s going to be some investments needed in AI — and waiting two years is probably not an option.”
Former Gov. Doug Burgum earmarked $15 million in the budget for AI-related grants, said Mock, who, in addition to his legislative experience, has built a career as a Realtor and leadership consultant.
He sees NDIT’s role as “not just helping with the technical questions, but that we’re anticipating future needs,” he said, “and making sure that, as we bring new technology in and we start making some investments and improvements, that we’re doing it strategically …”
During the summer and early fall, Mock reached out to colleagues, including appropriations committee chairpersons, returning legislators and both gubernatorial candidates, offering his help with any of the larger budgets he had worked on. He took this action “recognizing that we’re going to have some turnover – if there was anything I could do to help him or his team in the transition to get brought up to speed on where the Legislature had been. …
“From my perspective, that’s how a lot of this began — just offering to be a resource to him and his transition team as they were heading into the legislative session,” Mock said.
In a conversation in mid-November, Armstrong asked about Mock’s plans after his term ended “and quickly pivoted to, ‘I want you to run IT for me,’” Mock recalled. “It was totally unexpected — a true, I’d say, stunning response. It kind of set me back on my heels a bit, not even thinking that was even in the cards.”
After mulling it over for a few days, “I called him back and said, ‘I don’t have a compelling reason to say no. I serve at the pleasure of the governor; if you want me to join your team, I would be honored.’”
The appointment “speaks so highly of Kelly Armstrong wanting to build the right team,” Mock said. “Kelly puts his trust in his team (and) wants to put the right people in the job and let them do their job.”
“I think it’s heartening to see an elected official on a party ballot, so someone who represents a major political party, to look past the labels and to put people on his team that he knows and trusts regardless of their own political affiliation,” he said.
The origin of North Dakota Information Technology can be traced to 1969, he said, when it – as Central Processing — was part of the Office of Management and Budget, Mock said. In 1999, as the result of an interim legislative study, it became a separate agency — and, with that, a chief information office position was created.
Mock, the state’s ninth chief information officer since 1999, said he expects to be “out in the public and working with our team members and our agency clients as frequently as possible. I think that’s going to help us better understand what we can do to help improve state government and make sure that we’re using our resources efficiently and effectively.”
He intends to gain a first-hand understanding of how the workflow operates, he said.
As for the possibility of moving his family to Bismarck — the Mocks have three young children — that is something the couple will consider after the legislative session ends in the spring, he said.
He and his wife will make the decision, Mock said, based on “what makes the most sense for them — and for us.”
MINOT — It’s no big secret that Kirsten Baesler, who has served as North Dakota’s superintendent of public schools since 2012, is not well liked by our state’s MAGA movement.
Baesler has faced challenges from the far-right nearly every time she’s run for reelection. Last year, her latest challenger, religious zealot Jim Bartlett, succeeded in
wresting the North Dakota Republican Party’s state convention endorsement away from her.
(Superintendent is officially a nonpartisan position, but the political parties traditionally endorse candidates at their conventions anyway.)
When Baesler’s nomination to serve in President Donald Trump’s Department of Education
was announced,
most of North Dakota’s Republican statewide elected leaders congratulated her. The holdout?
Sen. Kevin Cramer,
perhaps Trump’s most ardent supporter in state elected office. It’s traditional that the state’s top leaders congratulate a colleague on moving on to federal service, but Cramer had nothing to say, and the silence was meaningful.
Meanwhile, in Washington, Trump’s slash-and-burn approach to downsizing the federal government has reached the Department of Education. His administration
announced Tuesday
that 1,315 of the cabinet department’s employees had been fired in addition to 572 who had previously accepted voluntary separation agreements and 63 probationary employees who were let go.
That’s a 47% reduction in the department’s workforce, and Trump has vowed to eliminate the department entirely, though he’ll need approval from Congress to go that far. As a conservative, I’m not sad to see our bloated federal workforce get downsized, though I wonder if Trump’s manic and chaotic approach to that end will prove salubrious to our nation’s well-being.
Time will tell.
What’s curious is seeing moderate Baesler, who enjoyed
the endorsement of North Dakota’s teacher and public workers union
but not the Republican Party, in a central position to dismantling the federal government’s education wing.
Though, in fairness to Baesler, she’s been clear about that objective, if not as blunt as other Trump administration leaders.
“Yes, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to meet with the Education Transition Team, including Linda McMahon,”
Baesler told me in January
when I was the first to report that she was in talks for a position in Trump’s administration. “We have a shared interest in returning education control back to the states and creating a work-ready focus in education.”
“This is an opportunity to build on the relationships I’ve formed with fellow state education leaders over the past 12 years to implement the changes that will help our students become future-ready citizens,” Baesler said in
a press release
officially announcing her nomination. “I look forward to working alongside Secretary-designate McMahon to deliver on President Trump’s education agenda and return education decisions to the states,”
The U.S. Senate has
since confirmed
McMahon’s nomination to serve as secretary of Education.
I texted Baesler for comment about the Department of Education firings and she did not reply. Dale Wetzel, her state communications director, had indicated that she would have no further comment after announcing her nomination.
Also, it’s worth mentioning that under Baesler’s leadership, North Dakota’s Department of Public Instruction has shrunk. In 2013, the first appropriations bill for the department considered by lawmakers under Baesler’s tenure
listed DPI’s workforce at 99.75 full time equivalent employees,
or FTEs.
A dozen years later, as lawmakers in Bismarck
consider budget questions
during their 2025 session, Baesler’s presentation to the Senate Appropriations Committee lists 86.25 FTEs, a roughly 14% reduction.
In 2013, Baesler’s DPI requested total funding, including state and federal funds, of roughly $2.2 billion which, adjusted for inflation, would be north of $3 billion in the 2025 session.
Currently, her department is asking for $2.9 billion for the 2025-2027 biennium, which is actually a decrease in spending after inflation.
Baesler, at least from a fiscal perspective, has always been more conservative than her populist critics have given her credit for.
Even so, it’s odd to see her heading into the MAGA milieu in Washington, where her more temperate and collaborative approach to education policy sticks out like a sore thumb, though Baesler is hardly the first of North Dakota’s political leaders to track that trajectory.
Former Gov. Doug Burgum went from
weeping exhortations for masking
during the pandemic, from
condemning the Jan. 6 riots
and
attending President Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration,
to
proclaiming that Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Strange days, indeed.
FARGO — March 11, 2025 is the five-year anniversary of North Dakota’s first confirmed case of COVID-19. What we didn’t know then is that it was the first of hundreds of thousands of cases for the state, and eventually, more than 100 million in America.
The state’s first case of Coronavirus was reported five years ago in Ward County.
In WDAY News’s 6 p.m. broadcast on March 11, 2020, there were reported supply shortages across the region. Stores across Fargo were out of toilet paper, and panic shopping was underway in Grand Forks.
The landscape of shortages changed dramatically over the pandemic, contributing to the global supply chain crisis that began in earnest the following year.
That same day, the Fargo VA began its first day of Coronavirus screenings, and West Fargo Public Schools canceled all out of state travel in March.
A particularly dramatic announcement came just two days after North Dakota reported its first COVID case. The North Dakota High School Activities Association suspended the winter tournament schedule. At that time, it was one of the few high school tournaments going on in the country. Those tournaments were eventually canceled for the year.
Area colleges transitioned to online classes. Then-Gov. Doug Burgum eventually announced K-12 schools would close for five days beginning March 16, while officials determined next steps. Classes resumed online on April 1 in Fargo. They remained online for the rest of the school year.
On March 13, President Donald Trump declared a national public emergency. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Burgum followed suit the same day.
“We’re taking a pragmatic, proactive, positive step, and again acting out of facts not out of fear,” Burgum said at the time.
Within a week, both governors ordered the closure of bars, restaurants and other entertainment venues via executive order. At the time, many of these were described as temporary measures. But as we all know, dramatic changes to our daily lives continued for years.
According to the latest data from the North Dakota Health and Human Services Vaccine Dashboard, just 10.5% of all people aged six months and older have been vaccinated for the 2024-2025 respiratory season. A total of 27.7% are up to date on their seasonal flu vaccinations.
Grand Forks Public Health epidemiologist Shawn McBride says the pandemic led to a lot of self reflection for people working in public health.
“We certainly saw an erosion of trust in public health agencies and health care providers during the pandemic,” McBride said.
He says the way people receive information has changed over time, and public health organizations need to adapt to those changes.
When it comes to improving the state vaccination rate, McBride points to reducing obstacles people may encounter when getting vaccinated.
“People need to take time off of work, or kids need to get away from school,” McBride said. “Sometimes those are things that are barriers that just don’t get people to go get that immunization. We need to make it easy for people, provide plenty of opportunities, and also make sure that there’s not a cost barrier as well.”
McBride emphasized that vaccines are safe, and effective, citing CDC data from a preliminary analysis of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness over the last respiratory season.
“it reduced the risk of hospitalizations by 45 to 46%,” McBride said. “In my mind, that’s a significant risk reduction. And we do all kinds of things every day to reduce our risk. We put a seat belt on, we make sure we’re driving the speed limit, or we’re asking kids to put on a bike helmet. It’s about reducing the overall risk to have severe outcomes from things when we encounter them.”
According to the CDC, there have been over 111 million cases of COVID-19 in the United States since 2020. Over 1.2 million Americans have died.
North Dakota
Port: Over 100 attorneys sign letter protesting North Dakota state bar distancing itself from LGBTQ seminar
MINOT — A letter signed by 129 lawyers is protesting the State Bar Association of North Dakota’s decision to distance itself from a continuing education seminar aimed at helping lawyers serve clients from the LGTBQ community.
The seminar was not canceled. It’s now being hosted by a legal aid nonprofit. Tony Weiler, the executive director for SBAND, announced that his association
had withdrawn as a sponosor of the event
due to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump targeting state bar associations, among other groups, for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, or “DEI,” initiatives.
“We see no legitimate reason SBAND ended its involvement in hosting the CLE webinar,” the letter states.
“SBAND advertises and maintains CLE webinars on a variety of topics for the benefit of its members,” the letter continues. “We are deeply concerned with SBAND taking a political stance pursuant to a Federal Executive Order by removing a CLE aimed at serving the legal needs of LGBTQ+ North Dakotans. This type of CLE is no different than one aimed at serving the needs of the poor, the disabled, or other underserved groups.”
Among the signatories of the letter are some prominent names, including former U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, state ethics commissioner Murray Sagsveen, former U.S. House candidate Cara Mund, former U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider, former U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon and current state House Minority Leader Rep. Zac Ista.
“LGBTQ+ individuals deserve our respect. SBAND’s recent decision sends a disappointing message to our colleagues, our clients, and the community. It also calls into question what other important CLE topics or SBAND sections might be at risk. We request that SBAND reconsider its position, because a CLE addressing the legal needs of LGBTQ+ individuals certainly improves the practice of law,” the letter concludes.
Bismarck-based attorney Katie Winbauer organized the letter. “SBAND’s response was focused on an Executive Order targeting bar associations that promote DEI efforts. If members do not speak up, I am deeply concerned with how far this decision could go,” Winbauer told me. “I am proud to stand alongside 128 other attorneys from across the state who said ‘this is not acceptable.’”
By way of justifying its decision, SBAND has referred to an executive order
Trump signed on Jan. 21
that directs the creation of “A plan of specific steps or measures to deter DEI programs or principles (whether specifically denominated ‘DEI’ or otherwise) that constitute illegal discrimination or preferences.”
“As a part of this plan, each agency shall identify up to nine potential civil compliance investigations of publicly traded corporations, large non-profit corporations or associations, foundations with assets of 500 million dollars or more, State and local bar and medical associations, and institutions of higher education with endowments over 1 billion dollars,” the order continues.
But the order doesn’t currently have the force of law. It is
currently enjoined
by a federal court in Maryland. What’s more, it’s not clear that SBAND receives any federal funding (Weiler has previously declined any further comment on this matter).
The association does have an official role in regulating North Dakota’s legal profession that is sanctioned by state government. Attorneys who operate in North Dakota must pay dues to the bar association. In 2015, SBAND was subject to a lawsuit from an attorney who objected to the use of mandatory dues payments in pursuit of political objectives, including opposition to a ballot initiative. Weiler has cited that case in defense of SBAND’s decision to distance itself from the LGBTQ seminar, but the situations seem dissimilar.
Using revenues from mandatory dues to take political positions is one thing, but the seminar at the heart of this controversy was a voluntary offering among a plethora of options North Dakota attorneys have available to obtain the continuing education credits their licensing requires.
Detroit Lions bring back DT Levi Onwuzurike on short-term free agency deal
Amtrak boasts free baggage for passengers after Southwest Airlines announces end to popular perk
San Francisco Muni stabbing victim, suspect both ID'd as minors
Cowboys trade for Buffalo Bills CB Kaiir Elam
Man took woman’s purse at gunpoint outside Miami hotel, then got gas on her dime, cops say
-
Politics1 week agoEXCLUSIVE: Elon Musk PAC thanks Trump for 'saving the American Dream' in new million-dollar ad
-
News4 days agoGene Hackman Lost His Wife and Caregiver, and Spent 7 Days Alone
-
Politics5 days agoAgriculture secretary cancels $600K grant for study on menstrual cycles in transgender men
-
Politics4 days agoRepublicans demand Trump cut American legal association out of nominee process
-
News4 days agoStates sue Trump administration over mass firings of federal employees
-
Movie Reviews6 days ago‘Black Bag’ Review: Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender Cozy Up in Steven Soderbergh’s Snazzy Spy Thriller
-
News6 days agoWho Paid for Trump’s Transition to Power? The Donors Are Still Unknown.
-
News5 days agoTrump Seeks to Bar Student Loan Relief to Workers Aiding Migrants and Trans Kids