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BISMARCK – Today, members of the North Dakota Republican Party (NDGOP) State Committee unanimously elected Rick Berg to his first full-term as Chairman. Berg was first elected to the role in March of 2018 and served the remainder of Congressman Kelly Armstrong’s term as Chairman.

“I am grateful to have the full support of the NDGOP State Committee to continue serving as Chairman,” said Chairman Berg. “Together our Republican team has accomplished a great deal, and I look forward to working with NDGOP members and our elected leadership on another successful gubernatorial election cycle. As we lead into the 2020 elections, we will build upon our historic efforts to grow our Party, engage with voters and make the case for Republican leadership.”

About Chairman Berg

Under the leadership of Chairman Berg, the NDGOP has made its largest-ever investment in a field program designed to connect directly with voters and secured an entirely Republican federal delegation. Governor Burgum asked Chairman Berg to continue leading the NDGOP through the 2020 election cycle and thanks him for his record of results for the Republican Party.

Rick served in the North Dakota Legislature for 26 years as Speaker of the House, Majority Leader, Caucus Chairman and Chairman of the Business Committee. In 2010, Rick was elected to the US House of Representatives where he served on the House Ways and Means Committee with a focus on taxation and budget. Rick currently serves as the President of Berg Group, LLC which focuses on developing  commercial real estate partnerships.

In early 2018, Rick was elected to serve as the Chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party. Rick and his wife Tracy reside in Fargo.

NDGOP Leadership

First Vice Chair: John Trandem (Newly Elected)

Second Vice Chair: Carma Hanson (Re-elected)

Treasurer: Nick Hacker (Re-elected)

Secretary: Kyle Handegaard (Re-elected)

The North Dakota Republican Party released a new ad today to highlight that while Republican Majorities are hard at work — Democrats are once again trying to raise taxes.

“Republicans in both chambers are hard at work for North Dakota,” said North Dakota Republican Party Chief of Staff Dawson Schefter. “Meanwhile, Democrats have their sights set on raising taxes — trouble is, they can’t seem to get the math right.”

Background:

• The North Dakota Legislature has adjourned for its crossover recess — marking the halfway point of the 66th Legislative Assembly.
• Senator Merrill Piepkorn and Rep. Pamela Anderson each introduced legislation to raise the oil extraction tax.
• Over the past five years, North Dakota’s oil industry has paid 50 percent of all taxes collected in the state.
• Democrats have been parroting these talking points since 2015 — yet this political theatre has been rejected by voters time and again.
• Republicans have been hard at work, taking steps forward on:
  • Developing a strong workforce
  • Diversifying our economy
  • Improving our infrastructure network
  • Reducing taxes
  • Improving behavioral health services
• Republican policies continue to benefit the individuals, families, and businesses of North Dakota — making our state the best place to live and work.

Transcript:

Senator Merrill Piepkorn: “I’m going to walk in the first day and say ‘Okay, ladies and gentleman, here I am. Let’s raise those taxes today.’”

Senator Merrill Piepkorn: “I will admit, I’ve got fuzzy math going on here.”

Senator Merrill Piepkorn: “Senator Cook, I do not understand that. I would appreciate that if you could explain that to me.”

Senator Dwight Cook: “Zero percent tax is going to raise a lot less money than five percent tax. Do we agree?”

Senator Merrill Piepkorn: “Uhm, I still don’t quite follow.”

Senator Dwight Cook: “So that is another tax increase…”

Senator Merrill Piepkorn: “That is, well. That is an increase, yeah.”

Senator Merrill Piepkorn: “Let’s raise those taxes today.”

As North Dakota Democrats double-down on their embrace of socialism, Bernie Sander’s campaign announced they think they’ve got a shot at winning North Dakota. Since Democrats announced their support for socialism in a Facebook Post on Saturday, they have twice doubled-down on this radical, liberal movement:

Meanwhile, North Dakota’s Republican elected leaders are weighing in to condemn this ridiculous and frightening rhetoric:

“North Dakota Democrats clearly plan to unabashedly embrace the radical left’s calls for socialism,” said North Dakota Republican Party Chief of Staff Dawson Schefter. “I look forward to the next election, when North Dakotans reject this extreme rhetoric at the ballot box.”

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Earlier today, North Dakota Democrats confirmed voters suspicions and endorsed the radical, socialist agenda of the liberal left. In a Facebook post on Saturday, the District 42 Democrat Party shared a letter to the editor in the Grand Forks Herald titled, “Socialism U.S. style: The need of our time” with the caption “Bravo!”

 

“This is just the latest in a string of tone deaf attempts by Democrats to pull North Dakota toward the radical, socialist agenda of the liberal left,” said North Dakota Republican Party Chief of Staff Dawson Schefter. “If North Dakota Democrats continue to support socialist policies, they will no doubt lead their party toward further obscurity.”

Facebook just forced the Heidi Heitkamp-funded Democrat-NPL ads to be taken down because they were clearly nothing more than a thinly-veiled voter suppression effort:

As Rob Port who first wrote this story says, Heitkamp and her party “weren’t trying to inform hunters. They were trying to confuse them, and deter them from voting.”

What Heidi Heitkamp hasn’t deleted, however, is her lie about the Casselton soybeans, which Heitkamp said were unsold and had no place to go, even though they had been sold and are now being picked up for delivery.

“Heidi Heitkamp’s lies, amid her ‘bring it home’ tour, are making it clear to voters that her real home is with the other dishonest liberals in Washington DC, not with North Dakotans,” said North Dakota Republican Party Communications Director Jake Wilkins. “North Dakotans know that if Heitkamp can’t be trusted to tell the truth, she shouldn’t be trusted with six more years in the Senate.” 

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Coverage of the Heidi Heitkamp-funded voter suppression efforts by North Dakota Democrats continued to overshadow her own de-facto farewell tour yesterday, as the scandal dominated local and national airwaves:

Fox News

KFYR (NBC)

KXJB (CBS)

REMINDER: Heidi Heitkamp and the Democratic-NPL defended this blatant voter suppression and doubled down, even as multiple fact-checkers found the ad to be completely false:

Given her long list of falsehoods on issues like health care, trade, entitlements, and outing sexual assault victims, these events are just more proof that Heidi Heitkamp’s entire campaign platform is built on nothing more than lies, misinformation, and manufactured controversy.

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Heidi Heitkamp is funding voter suppression efforts that have now been proven definitively false. As the Associated Press says:

CLAIM: “By voting in North Dakota, you could forfeit your hunting licenses.” – posted on the Democratic party’s website this week.
THE FACTS: The ad is false.

Heitkamp’s campaign has time and again claimed there is voter suppression in North Dakota, and it looks like they’re right, it’s them!

In Case You Missed It…

AP FACT CHECK: Claim that voters lose hunting licenses false

Associated Press

11.2.18

The North Dakota Democratic Party posted a misleading ad on its website and on Facebook that suggests state residents should reconsider voting in this year’s election if they have hunting licenses in other states.

Republican congressman Kevin Cramer is seeking to unseat U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp in this year’s Midterm election.

The ad comes as North Dakota voters, for the first time ever, will need identification that includes a street address to cast a ballot this election. Critics have said the requirement discriminates against the state’s Native American tribes, which have not always assigned street addresses to reservations.

A look at the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party’s claim:

CLAIM: “By voting in North Dakota, you could forfeit your hunting licenses.” – posted on the Democratic party’s website this week.

THE FACTS: The ad is false.

Nearly every state in the U.S. offers out-of-state residents a hunting license. North Dakota residents can obtain nonresident hunting licenses in other states regardless of whether they vote. All states that border North Dakota offer such a license for nonresidents.

“There’s no such law like that,” said Bruce Tague, the vice president of government affairs for the pro-hunting lobbying group Sportsmen’s Alliance.

Typically, states charge more for non-resident hunting licenses than resident permits.

Hunters who move to North Dakota might invalidate their hunting license in other states. He noted Ohio, however, offers lifetime hunting licenses to residents that are valid even if a person moves out of the state.

A spokeswoman for North Dakota Democrats pointed to Kentucky as an example where hunting licenses may be invalidated if someone votes in North Dakota.

But Kentucky offers both resident and nonresident licenses , with a higher price for nonresidents, said Kevin Kelly, a spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“We welcome them,” Kelly said of out-of-state hunters. “We want people to come hunt.”

The ad is similar to claims that discourage out-of-state college students from voting in elections, said Sean Morales-Doyle, counsel for the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, which focuses on voting rights.

“This is aimed at telling people who are eligible to vote, not to vote because of some fear that we can’t say is based in reality,” said Morales-Doyle.

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Coverage of Kevin Cramer’s superior performance in the final Senate debate continued last night, with KX4’s Chris Berg reminding voters that Cramer delivered the best lines on health care, trade, the economy, and Heidi Heitkamp’s last minute desperation. 

 

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