Jill Schramm/MDN Tanner Griffiths, left, project manager with Kraus-Anderson Construction Co., shows U.S. House candidate Julie Fedorchak the plans for a hotel under construction in New Town Oct. 8.

North Dakota’s U.S. House candidates are emphasizing their priorities with voters as they look to capture the state’s lone seat in the Nov. 5 election.

Julie Fedorchak, one of three members of the state’s Public Service Commission, and Trygve Hammer, a former Marine and most recently Job Corps counselor in Minot, are vying for the congressional seat held by Kelly Armstrong, who is running for North Dakota governor.

Energy is the key issue for Fedorchak, a Republican who worked in communications and media before becoming Public Service commissioner in 2012. During a visit to New Town on Oct. 8, she spoke at a meet-and-greet event about her firsthand knowledge of energy opportunities such as those seen on the Fort Berthold Reservation.

“It’s changed things so much for New Town and the whole MHA Nation,” she said. “I’m looking forward to being a partner with you on the federal level to help you fully realize your potential when it comes to energy development, agriculture and some of the innovation and drive being seen here, and the way it can change the opportunities for you and for your future generations.”

She also spoke about helping improve the services the tribe receives through the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, working to better the schools and crack down on illegal drugs on the reservation and in the state as a whole.

Tribal leaders at the event asked for help in implementing new federal rules that will affect the oil industry, ensuring common sense regulations.

“That’s what I’m all about – common sense,” Fedorchak responded.

“The world is hungry for our energy resources that we have in North Dakota. We have to be smart about development. They can create so many opportunities for people to make a living, create good jobs,” she said. “And we do it right. We do it with the best treatment of the environment. We do it with the best treatment of the people who are the workers developing it. We know we can find new and better ways to do it all the time.

“We’ve got to really dig into this and not let regulatory overreach shut it down,” she added.

Later, during an event for elected officials and candidates hosted by Verendrye Electric Cooperative in Minot, Fedorchak touched again on what energy has done for North Dakota and what she believes it can do for the country.

“I’ve been on the Public Service Commission for 12 years and it’s given me a front row seat on the energy development in this state,” she said. “And we are doing it all across the board. It’s not just oil and gas. It’s not just coal. We’re doing wind. We’re doing biofuels. We’re doing hydrogen development, carbon capture and storage. We’re on the cutting edge of energy development, and what I see happening on my seat on the PSC is the politics coming out of Washington are pushing us in the wrong direction as it relates to energy, creating a lot of risk for our country. They are driving prices up … I really want to be a voice of reason, a voice of common sense on these issues and others in Washington.”

She said she has tried to bring a problem-solving approach to the PSC and would do so in Washington on energy, agriculture, the border and inflation.

“Energy prices are built into so many of our products and I believe that if we are bullish about developing our resources, we can drive our supply. We will drive down costs and that will help with inflation, too – help us balance our budget,” Fedorchak said. “The problems are tough. We do face a lot of challenges in our country, but they aren’t greater than the opportunity we have to innovate and solve them.”

A native of Velva, Hammer joined the Navy and later the Marine Corps, serving as a helicopter pilot, air controller and an infantry officer in Iraq. He has been an airline pilot, science teacher and worked in the oil field, for a railroad and for a defense contractor.

Hammer, a Democrat, lost a bid in 2022 for PSC to incumbent Republican Sheri Haugen-Hoffart, who had been appointed to fill a vacancy by Gov. Doug Burgum.

Hammer lists a number of congressional priorities, from addressing prescription drug prices and getting wealthy taxpayers to pay their fair share to supporting rural communities and tribal sovereignty. He also wants to ensure ethics prevail over personal gain, which he sees as a concern at both state and national levels.

At a Democratic-NPL forum at Minot State University Oct. 1, Hammer cited instances of legislators benefiting from grants and land deals as well as a legislator prosecuted for sexual exploitation of minors. On the congressional level, it has been insider stock trading, Hammer said.

“We do need to call it out, and we need stronger ethics rules, and we need ethics rules that have some teeth as well, because what we’ve seen in recent years is there used to be norms, and people didn’t violate those norms of behavior. The norms are not enough anymore. We need things that can be enforced – criminal codes even – for some of these ethics violations,” he said.

The problem stems from a sense of owning their seats, he said.

“That seat that I want in the U.S. House of Representatives doesn’t belong to Kelly Armstrong,” Hammer said. “It doesn’t belong to one party or the other. It belongs to the people of North Dakota. And we’d have a lot better Congress if every member there realized that seat does not belong to them. And then also if they would remember that when you take your oath as a congressman, you take that oath to the Constitution of the United States of America, not to a party, not to a person. The people who hired you are the people from your district. You get a federal paycheck, but you work for those people.”

Hammer has questioned Fedorchak’s political action committee donations that he believes are too closely related to issues coming before the PSC. He also voiced concerns about her participation in discussions on a carbon capture pipeline.

Fedorchak has said her family does not own land on the Summit Carbon Solutions route but has a contract to store carbon dioxide transported by the pipeline. Fedorchak recused herself from any siting decisions on the proposed CO2 pipeline, but Hammer said she should have recused herself in earlier discussions about the pipeline.

Hammer also expressed optimism for the Democratic-NPL Party in North Dakota, which has lost ground over the years, leaving only a small number of legislators to represent the party. He said the Democratic-NPL received a boost with the presidential endorsement of Kamala Harris and her choice of Tim Walz for vice president.

“Since then, we’ve seen all kinds of enthusiasm, especially among young people,” he said.