Armstrong, Fedorchak win county, statewide primaries

Citizens of Carrington, Foster County and the greater area, and throughout the state of North Dakota exercised their fundamental rights to the democratic process by participating in the Primary Election Tuesday, June 11.

Voting within the county's lone precinct was held at Carrington City Library, and various city, county, state and national offices were up for contention.

All results reported are considered unofficial, as mail-in and absentee ballots postmarked by June 10 can still be received and counted up to 13 days after Election Day and certification is pending.

Numbers published here are taken from the North Dakota Secretary of State office's web site at sos.nd.gov. Turnout for the primary was 20.1% of eligible state voters, or 119,452 ballots cast.

Statewide races/ballot measure

In the North Dakota Republican governor's race, current Congressman Kelly Armstrong and Lt. Governor candidate Michelle Strinden took a surprisingly-easy primary win over Tammy Miller and Josh Teigen. In Foster County, Armstrong prevailed by a 336-204 (62.1-37.7%) margin.

Armstrong and Strinden advance to the General Election against Democratic-NPL candidates Merrill Piepkorn and Patrick Hart, who received all 115 votes from the primary in the county.

Incumbent GOP Senator Kevin Cramer ran unopposed in his primary, receiving 498 votes in the county against five write-ins. He will take on D-NPL candidate Katrina Christiansen (116 votes) in November.

The most contentious statewide race came in the battle for North Dakota's at-large U.S. House seat. In a five-candidate primary, current Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak came out on top in both Foster County and in the state with 231 votes, or 43.3% of the county vote.

Fedorchak bested her top challengers, Rick Becker (32.2%), Cara Mund 18.7%), Alex Balazs (4.3%) and Sharlet Mohr (0.9%). There were three write-in votes.

In the only contested race on the Democratic-NPL ticket, Trygve Hammer defeated Roland Riemers by 15 votes in Foster County, 62-47 (56.9-43.1%). Statewide, Hammer's margin was more significant, 73.3 to 26.3.

Fedorchak and Hammer advance to the general election for their respective parties.

The other race of note among elected positions was for the nonpartisan Superintendent of Public Instruction. Incumbent Kirsten Baesler won an outright majority with 56% of the county vote (348 votes), and Jason Heitkamp (143 votes, 23%) came in second. Jim Bartlett was third at 17.9% with 111 votes, and Darko Draganic received 18 votes and 2.9%.

Both Baesler and Heitkamp advanced to the general election by finishing in the top two statewide.

Moving on to November for the State Auditor's race were Joshua Gallion (GOP) and Timothy Lamb (D-NPL), and Randy Christmann (GOP) and Tracey Wilkie (D-NPL) for Public Service Commissioner.

Two other Republicans, Thomas Beadle and Jon Godfread, will be unopposed for the State Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner posts in November, as the Democratic-NPL did not field candidates in those races.

There was one measure before state voters, which would limit the age of prospective United States Congressional candidates to 80 and under. It ended up passing by a 60.9-39.1 margin statewide, and 62.7 (403) to 37.3 (240) in Foster County.

Legislative races

Since 2024 is an even-numbered year, none of the District 29 North Dakota legislative posts were up for election. District 29 includes Foster, Griggs, Steele and Nelson counties, and the portion of Stutsman County west of Jamestown.

That didn't mean there wasn't compelling speculation about other districts within the Independent's readership, particularly in adjacent District 14.

In what was arguably the most competitive primary in the state, the GOP races for state Senate and House were very tightly-contested.

Incumbent Senator Jerry Klein won with 2,510 votes over his challenger, Karisa Grothe (1,713 votes), 59.4 to 40.6%.

Klein will face D-NPL opponent Mark Nelson (538 votes) in the general election.

It was much more tense in the House race, where intra-party battles led to a four-way race won by incumbents Robin Weisz (28.7%, 2,199 votes) and Jon Nelson (26%, 1,990) over challengers Jason Steidl (24.1%, 1,843) and Larry Danduran (21.2%, 1,625).

Weisz and Jon Nelson will be pitted against Democrats Kathy Jelsing (485 votes) and Jessica Hawkes (456) in November.

Road levy passes; other county numbers

In the one ballot issue before county voters, a 25-mill levy to be raised for ongoing road repairs passed, 396 to 254 (60.9-39.1%).

On the Foster County Commission, Pat Copenhaver, David Utke and Becky Hagel ran unopposed in their races for Districts 1, 3 and 5, and all three will serve another team on the board.

Steve Metzger will serve another term as director of the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District, and in the Southeast District Court, Judge Brad Cruff also ran unopposed.

Carrington city offices

For City Council spots, Doug Smith and Tyler Hoggarth each received 362 votes while running unopposed. Smith was voted to another full term for an at-large seat, while Hoggarth is completing the unexpired two-year term following the resignation of Al Trader from the council.

In Ward 1, Trygg Olson (175 votes) will serve another term for the City of Carrington.

Things are less clear in Ward 2, as no candidate filed for the seat prior to the primary and a write-in candidate will most likely be selected.

At the last regular meeting, Ward 1 councilman Chase Pederson resigned from the council due to moving out of the ward boundaries. Pederson had served on the council since 2022.

Citizens have up to 15 days following the primary to petition for a special elction to fill Pederson's spot. After that point, Mayor Tom Erdmann has the authority to unilaterally appoint a city resident to serve the remainder of the term.

There were no declared candidates for two open Park Board positions, but 241 write-in votes were cast.

Once the certification process is completed, the names of the Council Ward 2 and Park Board seat winners will be published in the Independent.

Other races

Iris Johnson-Brandt and Justin Topp were elected unanimously to the Glenfield and Grace City mayorships, respectively, while Robyn Sorum will serve as the mayor of McHenry after receiving 63.6 percent of the 22 votes cast against eight write-ins.

Jeff Edland and Kent Johnson were elected to the Glenfield City Council, and Dalton Ehlers was elected to an unexpired two-year term.

In Grace City, Lynelle Lyman Hoppe and Cole Ellingson will serve on the City Council, with Rayette Lyman and Sheri Ellingson on the Park Board.

The McHenry City Council election saw Shane Black and Joshua Dreher earn seats with 18 and 12 votes. Also running for spots were Leon Hoyt (11 votes) and Tara Jones (five).