North Dakota
North Dakota governor candidates debate Measure 2, ethics • North Dakota Monitor
Candidates for North Dakota governor differed Monday on a ballot measure that would change the process for future voter-initiated measures to amend the state constitution.
Republican Kelly Armstrong, Democratic-NPL candidate Merrill Piepkorn and independent candidate Michael Coachman debated in front of a live audience of more than 100 people during a debate hosted by BEK TV and moderated by Steve Bakken and Joel Heitkamp.
Piepkorn, a state senator, said he opposes Measure 2, which was placed on the 2024 general election ballot by the Legislature. The measure would limit ballot initiatives to a single subject; increase the signature requirement for petitions; force ballot initiatives to be passed by the voters during the primary election and the general election; and require petition circulators to be eligible to vote in North Dakota.
4 major takeaways from North Dakota governor debate
Piepkorn said he believes the Republican-led Legislature only believes in local control until a certain point.
“It will just make things more difficult,” Piepkorn said. “It’s not a perfect system. But it’s a good system and it’s the best one we have, and we don’t need to change it.”
Armstrong said he isn’t sure how he will vote on Measure 2. He added it should be easier to change statutes via ballot petition, but people should “be more careful” with constitutional changes.
“I think it should be really hard to change the North Dakota Constitution,” Armstrong said.
He also said the measure doesn’t address out-of-state money influencing ballot initiative campaigns.
Coachman said he believes the Legislature doesn’t have the power to use the initiated ballot measure process because of the state’s constitution. He also objected to Measure 1, which cleans up outdated language in the constitution, and Measure 3, which affects the Legacy Fund, because they were placed on the ballot by the Legislature.
“If you don’t follow the constitution, what do you got?” Coachman said. “A Third World country.”
Energy industry
Piepkorn was critical of past legislation to lower the oil extraction tax, as well as tax exemptions for energy companies.
“Every session that I was on the Energy and Natural Resource Committee, the oil companies were back looking for another exemption, chipping away at the taxes that they pay,” Piepkorn said.
Armstrong defended incentives for the energy industry, which he said allowed the Bakken to be developed.
“We had smart policy that allowed people to come in here and invest and create generational wealth for this entire state,” Armstrong said. “And I think it’s a fantastic thing, not something to apologize for.”
Coachman accused Armstrong of personally benefiting from legislation during the 2017 legislative session related to oil and gas minerals under Lake Sakakawea.
A bill Armstrong sponsored that year ordered a review of the historical ordinary high water mark of the Missouri River before the construction of the Garrison Dam, which created Lake Sakakawea. The legislation sought to resolve uncertainty over mineral ownership. Millions of dollars had been held in escrow or in suspense amid ownership disputes.
Coachman said Armstrong failed to disclose that he would personally benefit from the legislation. Armstrong said Coachman’s claim is wrong and said he had zero mineral acres held in suspense by North Dakota.
Armstrong said he remains proud of that legislation, which he said returned royalties to North Dakota farmers and ranchers.
Armstrong, who earns most of his personal income from the oil and gas industry, said if elected governor he would recuse himself from voting on the North Dakota Industrial Commission on issues affecting his father’s operating company and any issue in which he has a unique interest.
Piepkorn said electing a member of the Democratic-NPL Party to the three-member Industrial Commission would bring “clarity and transparency” to the conversations.
Ethics
When asked if the Republican supermajority in the Legislature has created ethical concerns due to a lack of accountability, Coachman said lawmakers shouldn’t be taking advantage of the people of North Dakota to benefit themselves.
“They just keep protecting each other,” Coachman said.
Piepkorn said the Republican supermajority has created a sense of entitlement.
All three were asked about state Rep Jason Dockter, R-Bismarck, who was found guilty of a misdemeanor conflict of interest crime and continues to serve in the Legislature.
Coachman and Piepkorn said they would resign if they were found guilty of a similar crime.
Armstrong said he would never put himself in that position. When pressed on whether he would resign, Armstrong said: “I would have a hard time understanding how I would be able to represent my voters.”
Commerce department
In response to a question about the state Department of Commerce, Coachman said he would audit the department, along with other state government spending. If the audit shows the department is spending too much money, Coachman said he would “eliminate them.”
Piepkorn said members of Commerce often told legislators how much investment could come into the state if they changed some of the state’s laws.
“I think we really need to keep an eye on the Commerce Department,” Piepkorn said. “And also, be wary of corporate interests coming in and really taking over the state.”
Armstrong said the state should focus on transparency, accountability, workforce and affordable housing issues before any projects should be discussed.
“We don’t need a bunch of trillion dollar infrastructure projects in the state of North Dakota right now because we don’t have anywhere for those people to live and we don’t have the employees to do that,” Armstrong said.
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FARGO, N.D. (KELO) — The Sioux Falls Stampede staved off elimination with a 2-1 overtime win over the Fargo Force in game four of the USHL Western Conference Finals Saturday night.
Thomas Zocco scored the game-winner 12 minutes into the extra period. Arseni Marchenko put Fargo on the board first in the first period. Noah Mannausau tied the game for the Herd in the second period.
Sioux Falls outshot Fargo 53-49, including 9-5 in overtime. Linards Feldbergs made 48 saves.
Three of the four games of the series have gone to overtime. The winner-take-all game five is Tuesday at the Premier Center.
New ballot measure guide to be mailed to North Dakota voters ahead of election
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BISMARCK (North Dakota Monitor) — A federal district court judge indicated he will nullify a nearly $28 million judgment against the federal government related to costs North Dakota incurred during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests so the parties can reach a settlement.
North Dakota is still set to receive a payment Attorney General Drew Wrigley described as satisfactory, but attorneys would not disclose the amount during a Friday hearing.
Attorneys for the United States and North Dakota said the settlement would allow the parties to avoid litigating the case in appeals court,putting the nearly seven-year-old lawsuit to rest.
“We’re hoping we really don’t need to fight any further,” Department of Justice attorney Jonathan Guynn said during the hearing.
The lawsuit, filed in 2019, concerns demonstrations against the construction of the crude oil pipeline, also known as DAPL, that took place in rural south-central North Dakota in 2016 and 2017.
North Dakota claims the federal government caused the protests to grow in size and intensity by unlawfully allowing demonstrators to camp on federal land. The state says it had to pay millions of dollars on policing and cleaning up the encampments as a result. The United States denies the state’s allegations.
North Dakota U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Traynor in April 2025 sided with the state and ordered the executive branch to pay North Dakota the $28 million sum, a decision the U.S. Department of Justice later appealed to the 8th Circuit.
If the settlement moves forward, North Dakota would receive a “substantial monetary payment” from the United States, attorneys said Friday. As a condition of the agreement, the Department of Justice wants Traynor’s judgment and three other orders in which he ruled against the United States to be voided. That includes the court’s 120-page ruling from April 2025.
Both parties said Friday that having the rulings nullified wouldn’t have a significant negative impact on the public, since the documents could still be cited even if they no longer hold the weight of court orders.
At the same time, Guynn said the Department of Justice wants the orders vacated because it doesn’t want the legal conclusions Traynor made to influence the outcome of future lawsuits.
“The downstream consequences of keeping these on the books is troublesome for the United States,” he said during the hearing. If Traynor does not agree to axe the rulings, the United States would likely no longer be willing to settle and move forward with its appeal instead, Guynn added.
Traynor’s orders make findings about the federal government’s responsibility under the Federal Tort Claims Act — the law North Dakota filed the suit under — which the state noted previously in court filings “could have utility holding the federal government to account” in the future.
Still, attorneys for the state said they believe this trade-off is outweighed by the time and money the public would save by not going through the appeals process. North Dakota would also avoid the risk of having Traynor’s judgment overturned by higher courts.
Wrigley said the settlement will be made public once it’s finalized.
The United States’ appeal of Traynor’s decision has been on hold since last summer, when the state and federal government informed the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals they had started settlement negotiations and wished to pause the case.
The 8th Circuit will have to first send the case back to Traynor before he could grant the parties’ requests.
The case went to trial in Bismarck in early 2024. During the four-week trial, the court heard from witnesses including former governors Doug Burgum and Jack Dalrymple, Native activists, federal officials and law enforcement.
The Dakota Access Pipeline carries crude oil from northwest North Dakota to Illinois. It crosses the Missouri River just north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, which prompted the tribe to begin protesting the pipeline on the grounds that it poses a threat to its water supply and sovereignty.
North Dakota’s lawsuit originally requested $38 million in damages from the federal government. Traynor ordered the executive branch to pay $28 million since the U.S. Department of Justice previously gave the state $10 million as compensation for costs it spent related to the protests.
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