Meet the candidates event in Fessenden

Fessenden, N.D. – Voters in central North Dakota will have the opportunity to get up close and personal with Democratic-NPL candidates from 6 to 8 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 8, in Fessenden Festival Hall on the Wells County Fairgrounds.

Taking turns at the podium will be U.S. Senate candidate Katrina Christiansen, U.S. House candidate Trygve Hammer, and N.D. gubernatorial candidate Merrill Piepkorn. Attendees will also hear from District 14 Democratic-NPL legislative candidates Mark Nelson, Cathy Jelsing, and Jessica Hawkes.

Organizer Patti Patrie, Bowdon, promises "food, fun and fellowship." Everyone is welcome to attend and enjoy the complimentary taco bar as they learn more about the candidates.

Christiansen, who has a PhD in Agricultural Engineering, has worked as an ethanol plant engineer and earned two patents while working as a researcher for a large agricultural processor. She now teaches at Jamestown University. In regards to agriculture, Christiansen said, "I would work to reduce marketplace consolidation and strengthen antitrust laws to ensure that farmers and ranchers reap economic benefits from their labor."

She supports the Affordable Care Act, noting that it has significantly improved the state's healthcare system and made sure North Dakotans with preexisting conditions have access to coverage. She is also an advocate for reproductive freedom and healthcare autonomy for all women, and will support policies that empower women "to make the best choices for themselves and their families."

Hammer is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate and retired Major in the Marine Corps who served in Iraq. Outside of the Marine Corps, Trygve has been a roughneck on oilfield workover rigs, a freight rail conductor, and a science teacher for grades 7 to 12 at a rural North Dakota school.

Hammer said he's running for Congress because it is time to put the government to work for all of us. "It is time to end the grandstanding and culture-war intrusions into our most personal decisions as persons, parents, and patients," Hammer said, "and elect a pro-worker, pro-choice, and pro-democracy leader to represent North Dakota in the U.S. House of Representatives."

Piepkorn has served in the North Dakota Senate since 2017. A musician and longtime voice on Prairie Public Broadcasting, he has shared his distinctive talents as a musician throughout his campaign. Among his priorities are keeping tax dollars in public schools, freezing property taxes for seniors, and improving access to healthcare.

Nelson, Rugby, is running for District 14's lone Senate seat. His life experience is rooted in North Dakota's ag economy. Hawkes is founder and director of Hawkes Homestead Animal Sanctuary, which she operates on her fifth-generation family farm at New Rockford. She also is employed by the Community College Foundation at Lake Region State College, Devils Lake. Cathy Jelsing, Rugby, is a veteran newspaper journalist, public relations writer, and nonprofit executive.

The District 14 legislative candidates' shared platform cites their desire to work for bipartisan solutions that protect women's reproductive freedom, support working families, champion education, and preserve the separation of church and state. "There is much more that unites North Dakotans than divides us," Nelson said, "especially the value we all place on personal freedom."