Port: Some North Dakota Republican convention delegates may protest if Trump names Burgum as VP

MINOT — To understand what I’m about to relate to you, you must first understand just who it is that the North Dakota Republican Party sent to Milwaukee as delegates to the GOP’s national convention.

The list of delegates is a who’s-who of the NDGOP’s far-right flank. Among them is Lori Hinz, one of the NDGOP’s national committee members, who has been

outspoken in her criticism of Gov. Doug Burgum

and, specifically, the possibility that former President Donald Trump might choose Gov. Doug Burgum as his running mate. Not among the delegates (they were relegated to alternate status) are Burgum, his wife Kathryn, Congressman Kelly Armstrong, and U.S. House nominee Julie Fedorchak. Just to to put an exclamation point behind that factoid, Burgum may well be chosen as VP at this convention, but was not chosen as a delegate by the NDGOP convention.

Hinz has

lambasted Burgum on social media,

calling on Trump’s vetters to “do some on-the-ground investigation rather than jumping on the bandwagon so blindly, relying on purchased favorable articles, sycophants, and skewed internet searches.”

Also among the attendees is state Rep. Matthew Heilman, state Sen. Donna Henderson, failed U.S. House candidate Rick Becker, Jeff Hinz (husband to Lori), Paul Henderson (husband to Donna), Andrea Toman (who managed Becker’s failed campaign), District 10 legislative candidate Jared Hendrix and a laundry list of other names that anyone familiar with North Dakota politics would recognize as Burgum’s enemies.

These delegates were elected at the NDGOP’s state convention,

which was controlled by a far-right wing of the party

that is deeply out of touch with North Dakota’s larger Republican electorate.

Now, the story: These delegates may be planning a public protest against Trump’s choice of Burgum, if that is indeed the choice he makes.

That’s based on multiple sources in Republican leadership, including some traveling to Milwaukee as alternate delegates.

The concern over these potential protests is so high, one prominent Republican told me, that the North Dakota delegation has been seated at the back of the convention hall. “They’re basically seated in a hallway that’s almost kind of off the convention floor,” one in-the-know source told me. “The only view they have is forward. The only way they can look is forward, and they have two whips assigned to them.”

State Auditor Josh Gallion, who is chairing the delegation, told me he hadn’t heard anything about a potential protest. “I’m not aware of anything like that,” he said via text message while working his way through convention security.

If Burgum is chosen as VP —

and, reportedly, we may get that announcement as soon as today

— you would expect that convention organizers would want his home state delegates front and center in the crowd. It could be that they’re not because Burgum isn’t the pick. Or it could be that organizers don’t want an anti-Burgum demonstration to make the broadcast at the convention.

This sort of revolt from convention delegates against their own party leaders is rare, but not unprecedented. During the 2016 cycle,

North Dakota delegates censured then-Sen. Heidi Heitkamp

for her support of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign over that of Sen. Bernie Sanders. The rebuke was so sharp that Heitkamp

did not cast her votes

for the presidential candidate at the convention.

Burgum has been a popular governor. He was elected in landslides in 2016, and 2020, and, had he sought a third term, would have won reelection handily, I think. His aspirations for vice president have the vocal support of North Dakota’s congressional delegation — including Sen. Kevin Cramer, Sen. John Hoeven and Rep. Kelly Armstrong (currently campaigning to be our next governor).

But ironically, despite the effort he’s put in to

ingratiate himself with Trump and his political movement

in previous weeks, Burgum has never been popular with the NDGOP’s Trumpiest factions.