Shaw: A June voters guide for North Dakotans

There are several Republican primary races where the battles are between normal traditional conservative Republicans and extremists. The most high-profile race is in District 8 in Bismarck. Traditional Republicans Mike Berg and Ken Rensch are taking on extremist Reps. Brandon “George Santos” Prichard and SueAnn Olson.

With his constant blasts of the LGBTQ community and non-Christians, Prichard is a hate-monger and book-banning supporter. Prichard also has fibbed about attending the University of Minnesota Law School. Bismarck and the state of North Dakota would be much better off if Berg and Rensch are nominated.

Twelve-year incumbent Kirsten Baesler is the clear choice to be re-elected as superintendent of public instruction. Baesler has done an excellent job under difficult circumstances. Baesler also has strong public school experience as a former assistant principal in Bismarck and president of the Mandan School Board.

Candidate Jim Bartlett was executive director of the North Dakota Homeschool Association. Nothing wrong with that,

but homeschooling advocates should not be in charge of our public schools

. Also, it’s alarming to see Bartlett’s push to bring more Christianity into the public schools. That would be unconstitutional. Bartlett’s agenda would be a better fit for the state’s private religious schools.

Candidate Darko Draganic has potential, while candidate Jason Heitkamp is not qualified.

The only legitimate Democratic Party candidate for Congress is Trygve Hammer. He has a passion for improving people’s lives and an impressive military record.

With one exception (Kristin Nelson), the endorsements for the Fargo School Board by the Fargo Education Association are preposterous. The other three FEA-endorsed candidates don’t belong on the board.

Allie Ollenburger (who led the botched recall effort in 2021)

and Paul Mohror are chaos candidates.

Likely influenced by contentious contract talks, the FEA seems to be primarily motivated by animosity toward the current board and the school district administration. The FEA’s selections are certainly not in the best interests of the school district or the citizens of Fargo. Fortunately, there are five strong candidates running for four open positions on the board. They are Nelson, Seth Holden, John Campbell, Ryan Dodd and Nikkie Gullickson.

Citizens of West Fargo would be well-served by electing Amy Zundel, who just won a YWCA Woman of the Year award, to the city commission. I don’t know if Zundel is a Republican or Democrat, and I don’t care. What I do know is Zundel is smart, determined and friendly.

It’s because of Zundel’s hard work and research that North Dakota’s weak child abuse laws were toughened. As a private citizen, Zundel put in countless hours to protect the state’s children. With that kind of tenacity, she would be a perfect fit for the West Fargo City Commission.

InForum columnist Jim Shaw is a former WDAY TV reporter and former KVRR TV news director.