The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The Official Newspaper for Foster County
Following a redistricting process that saw their home district eliminated, District 23 representatives Bill Devlin and Don Vigesaa have announced their future plans.
Rep. Devlin, a 20-year veteran of the N.D. Legislature and former Speaker of the House, has announced his retirement from the legislature once his current term expires on Nov. 30.
Rep. Vigesaa, meanwhile, has announced his intention to run for the House of Representatives in District 29.
Late last year, a new redistricting map was drawn that split District 23 among three separate districts (14, 15 and 29). Devlin's residence in Finley and Vigesaa's home in Cooperstown were encompassed by District 29 when that map was signed into law by Gov. Burgum last November.
The decision to retire was a difficult one for Devlin and his wife Margie, but according to a press release supplied to local papers in his district, one of the key factors in Devlin's decision to retire, "was the knowledge that there are three incumbent legislative candidates with the experience, seniority and legislative positions needed to represent the newly merged [District 29] in the strongest possible way."
During his time in the legislature, Devlin spent several terms as chairman of the Administrative Rules Committee, was the chairman of the Political Subdivisions Committee and the vice-chairman of the Human Service Committee, among others. Devlin also served as a Steele County Commissioner for 13 years.
"I enjoyed the people I served with both in the legislative branch and the executive branch," said Devlin about his time in office. "They were all great to work with and I enjoyed the dialogue we had with the citizens of our district throughout the district. I had good input all the years there from people within the district and I greatly appreciated that."
Once an editor of multiple weekly newspapers in northeastern North Dakota, Devlin has long championed freedom of the press and rigorously fought for government transparency and open-records laws.
Perhaps the most clear sign of his dedication to local journalism, was his decision to inform weekly newspapers of his retirement long before the large daily papers could cover the news.
"I greatly appreciated the weekly newspapers in the district, because all of them would run our weekly reports during the session, and dialogue with your constituents throughout the session is vital. They can't get all of their news from the daily paper," said Devlin. "... so I've always appreciated how much support we got from the weekly papers to keep the residents of our district informed on what's happening in Bismarck."
Vigesaa has been in the North Dakota House of Representatives since 2003, and has served as the assistant majority leader for five sessions. He currently sits on one of the most important committees in the legislature, the House Appropriations Committee, and also serves on the Government Finance Committee, among others.
Vigesaa said that, despite all the changes to District 29, it's all still rural. In his opinion, that makes him an ideal candidate to continue fighting for rural issues in Bismarck.
"I think, for the residents in 29, in me they would have someone that has experience and leadership experience, and I think it's really important to have rural legislators sitting on the appropriations committee," said Vigesaa on why he thought he'd be a strong representative for District 29.
Editor's Note: This online exclusive article is a compilation of clips from two articles written for the New Rockford Transcript and the Foster County Independent. To read our full interviews with both Vigesaa and Devlin, pick up a print copy of the Feb. 14 edition of both papers or subscribe online!
