North Dakota

Third South Dakota tribal nation bans Noem from reservation

Published

2 years ago

April 12, 2024

Third South Dakota tribal nation bans Noem from reservation

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has become the third tribal nation to ban South Dakota Kristi Noem (R) from its reservation land.

On Wednesday, the Standing Rock Tribal Council voted to ban Noem from its land for “racially charged” comments she made at town halls events alleging that some tribal leaders are “personally benefitting” from Mexican drug cartel activity on reservations, the South Dakota Searchlight reported.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is straddles the border of North Dakota and South Dakota. The Governor was banned from two other reservations earlier this year, which started after she delivered remarks on the U.S.-Mexico border in February.

Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairwoman Janet Alkire said in a release that Noem’s attempts to link tribes with the Mexican cartel was “irresponsible” and a “sad reflection of her fear-based politics that do nothing to bring people together to solve problems.”

“Rather than make uninformed and unsubstantiated claims, Noem should work with tribal leaders to increase funding and resources for tribal law enforcement and education,” Alkire’s statement said, reported by the Searchlight.

Alkire called a special meeting after a motion to ban Noem was introduced by Alice Bird Horse and seconded by Cyril Archambault.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe banned Noem in February, shortly after her remarks at the border. Frank Star Comes Out, the president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, said the ban was effective immediately and due to the safety of Oyate.

The Cheyanne River Sioux also voted to ban Noem last week. The South Dakota governor is now banned from about 10 percent of the land in the state she governs, CNN noted.

In a video posted to social media platform X, Noem announced Thursday that she was offering a “history-making opportunity” to the state’s tribes by creating a law enforcement training course over the summer.

“Now, it’s not going to address every single challenge, but this training is a crucial first step towards addressing public safety issues in our tribal communities,” she said.

The Hill has reached out to Noem’s office for comment on the latest banning.

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North Dakota

North Dakota officials celebrate being among big winners in federal rural health funding

Published

5 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

North Dakota officials celebrate being among big winners in federal rural health funding

North Dakota U.S. Sen. John Hoeven and Gov. Kelly Armstrong on Friday touted the success of the state’s application for federal Rural Health Transformation Program funding, which landed one of the largest per-capita awards in the nation.

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North Dakota

Tony Osburn’s 27 helps Omaha knock off North Dakota 90-79

Published

17 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Tony Osburn’s 27 helps Omaha knock off North Dakota 90-79

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Tony Osburn scored 27 points as Omaha beat North Dakota 90-79 on Thursday.

Osburn shot 8 of 12 from the field, including 5 for 8 from 3-point range, and went 6 for 9 from the line for the Mavericks (8-10, 1-2 Summit League). Paul Djobet scored 18 points and added 12 rebounds. Ja’Sean Glover finished with 10 points.

The Fightin’ Hawks (8-11, 2-1) were led by Eli King, who posted 21 points and two steals. Greyson Uelmen added 19 points for North Dakota. Garrett Anderson had 15 points and two steals.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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North Dakota

Port: 2 of North Dakota’s most notorious MAGA lawmakers draw primary challengers

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Port: 2 of North Dakota’s most notorious MAGA lawmakers draw primary challengers

MINOT — Minot’s District 3 is home to Reps. Jeff Hoverson and Lori VanWinkle, two of the most controversial members of the Legislature, but maybe not for much longer.

District 3, like all odd-numbered districts in our state, is on the ballot this election cycle, and the House incumbents there

have just drawn two serious challengers.

Tim Mihalick and Blaine DesLauriers, each with a background in banking, have announced campaigns for those House seats. Mihalick is a senior vice president at First Western Bank & Trust and serves on the State Board of Higher Education. DesLauriers is vice chair of the board and senior executive vice president at First International Bank & Trust.

The entry into this race has delighted a lot of traditionally conservative Republicans in North Dakota

Hoverson, who has worked as a Lutheran pastor, has frequently made headlines with his bizarre antics. He was

banned from the Minot International Airport

after he accused a security agent of trying to touch his genitals. He also

objected

to a Hindu religious leader participating in the Legislature’s schedule of multi-denominational invocation leaders and, on his local radio show, seemed to suggest that Muslim cultures that force women to wear burkas

have it right.

Hoeverson has also backed legislation to mandate prayer and the display of the Ten Commandments in schools, and to encourage the end of Supreme Court precedent prohibiting bans on same sex marriage.

Rep. Jeff Hoverson, R-Minot, speaks on a bill Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, at the North Dakota Capitol.

Tom Stromme / The Bismarck Tribune

VanWinkle, for her part, went on a rant last year in which she suggested that women struggling with infertility have been cursed by God

(she later claimed her comments, which were documented in a floor speech, were taken out of context)

before taking

a weeklong ski vacation

during the busiest portion of the legislative session (she continued to collect her daily legislative pay while absent). When asked by a constituent why she doesn’t attend regular public forums in Minot during the legislative session,

she said she wasn’t willing to “sacrifice” any more of her personal time.

The incumbents haven’t officially announced their reelection bids, but it’s my practice to treat all incumbents as though they’re running again until we learn otherwise.

In many ways, VanWinkle and Hoverson are emblematic of the ascendant populist, MAGA-aligned faction of the North Dakota Republican Party. They are on the extreme fringe of conservative politics, and openly detest their traditionally conservative leaders. Now they’ve got challengers who are respected members of Minot’s business community, and will no doubt run well-organized and well-funded campaigns.

If the 2026 election is a turning point in the

internecine conflict among North Dakota Republicans

— the battle to see if our state will be governed by traditional conservatives or culture war populists — this primary race in District 3 could well be the hinge on which it turns.

In the 2024 cycle, there was an effort, largely organized by then-Rep. Brandon Prichard, to push far-right challengers against more moderate incumbent Republicans.

It was largely unsuccessful.

Most of the candidates Prichard backed lost, including Prichard himself, who was

defeated in the June primary

by current Rep. Mike Berg, a candidate with a political profile not all that unlike that of Mihalick and DesLauriers.

But these struggles among Republicans are hardly unique to North Dakota, and the populist MAGA faction has done better elsewhere. In South Dakota, for instance, in the 2024 primary,

more than a dozen incumbent Republicans were swept out of office.

Can North Dakota’s normie Republicans avoid that fate? They’ll get another test in 2026, but recruiting strong challengers like Mihalick and DesLauriers is a good sign for them.

Rob Port is a news reporter, columnist, and podcast host for the Forum News Service with an extensive background in investigations and public records. He covers politics and government in North Dakota and the upper Midwest. Reach him at rport@forumcomm.com. Click here to subscribe to his Plain Talk podcast.

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