Krebsbach, who chose not to run again this year, admits to withdrawal pangs but also feels a sense of satisfaction, knowing the time was right to step down.

Krebsbach said she had considered not running in the previous two election cycles but had been urged by party supporters to continue. This time around, her decision to step away after 36 years was both firm and made easier with eager new candidates coming forward. She is replaced in the Senate by District 40 Republican Jose Castaneda.

Krebsbach recalls her own experiences as a first-time candidate looking to make a difference for the state. She had been approached by then Sen. Chester Reiten of Minot while in Bismarck testifying on workers compensation legislation for the Greater North Dakota Association, a statewide chamber group in which she was active.

“Chester Reiten was not going to run again. He chose not to after 16 years, and he said, ‘Karen, I want you to run for my seat.’ And I said, ‘Oh, OK.’ I had always said I wouldn’t run until my kids were done with high school, and that year, my son was a senior,” said Krebsbach, who also had an older daughter. “So I decided to take the leap and do it, see what happens.”

“Nobody could replace Chester in anything, but you could always fill the spot for him,” she added. “I guess I did enough where they (voters) sent me back a few times.”

At that time, Districts 40/50 were combined. Four candidates ran for the two Senate seats, and Krebsbach, a Republican, and Rolland Redlin, a Democrat incumbent, were elected. They served together in the Senate for six sessions, although the double district went away in 1993 following redistricting and Redlin moved into District 38.

“I was the only Republican senator from Minot at that time,” Krebsbach recalled, “and I served in the minority at that time for three sessions. So, I’ve lived through a lot of changes in the Senate.”

During Ed Schafer’s term as governor, Republicans gained the Senate majority in 1995 while maintaining the majority in the House of Representatives.

“He worked very hard – Governor Shafer did – to get more Republicans involved in the state Legislature. He was a champion of getting good Republican candidates to run,” Krebsbach said.

When Gov. John Hoeven was in office from 2000-2010, North Dakota was pegged as the state with the lowest paid teachers in the nation.

“He worked very hard to increase the funding in education, and we were able to do that,” Krebsbach said. “That made for a big change in the Republican Party to tackle that issue, because that had been more of an issue on the other side. But we were just tired of being labeled the lowest paid teachers in the nation, so that was a big challenge in the ’90s to get that erased. It came about, and Governor Hoeven was pretty much responsible for that, because he said, ‘We can do better than that.'”

The 1990s also saw water issues surface in the state. Minot imposed a sales tax to work on bringing Missouri River water to the region through the Northwest Area Water Supply project, but the city needed the state’s help, Krebsbach said.

“That was a big issue back then, and we managed to take care of that. Now, we still have to be sure we stay in line for the funding that’s been guaranteed to us for that, but it seems to be well on the way to being accomplished and taken care of. Then, of course, when we experienced the flooding, we had a problem with too much water,” Krebsbach said in reference to the catastrophic 2011 event.

“It’s going to take more work and more effort to make sure that the funding is continued for those projects to bring them to complete finality, but I think that’s pretty much set in stone now to happen,” she said.

Krebsbach had served on the Senate Appropriations Committee since 2007. During her 17 years on the committee, general fund appropriations tripled.

“The overall budget has increased considerably, but we’ve taken on so much more in trying to fund the situations for roads and water … and education,” she said. “The other area that has increased so greatly is that of human services.”

Even so, the state has seen revenues regularly exceed forecasts and trust funds fill up in recent years. Krebsbach remembers a different situation early in her legislative service when she and colleagues were scraping money from every reserve account to try to balance the budget with at least a $10 million balance.

“It’s just amazing how things have changed,” she said. “The state has been very blessed in funding sources, but it doesn’t mean it’s going to last forever, and that’s one of the reasons that we put this money aside from the oil in the Legacy Fund.”

The legislative decision that stands out for her, though, came in 2009 with the passage of funding for a new grandstand at the North Dakota State Fair in Minot.

“It wouldn’t have happened without the effort of all of the Minot legislators to accomplish that,” Krebsbach said. Minot legislators have formed a cohesive group on many pieces of Minot-related legislation over the years.

“It takes everybody to come together to make sure good legislation gets passed,” Krebsbach said. “We didn’t have the votes like Fargo did. We didn’t have the numbers like Fargo, and in order for us to accomplish things, we knew we had to stay together, and we had to make allies in Fargo and in other cities across the state to get things accomplished. You can’t just vote only for your projects. You’ve got to support others in their projects as well.

“There were a lot of people that didn’t think that grandstand was necessary, but I think if they came to the fair today and saw what it’s done for the state, as well as this area here in Minot area, I think that they would take a different look at it, too,” she said.

Two other bills that stand out came up in her first session, relating to Sunday opening and interstate banking. Neither passed that session but they did the following session, with Sunday morning restrictions lifted in 2019.

“The interstate banking bill was quite a battle,” Krebsbach said. “It divided so many of the banks. It was like the Hatfields and the McCoys. Some of the small town banks were afraid that big banks, the federal banks, were going to come into their communities and take over everything. Well, it’s been quite the reverse, because a lot of the small town banks have moved into the major cities, and it’s interesting how what you think might happen works in reverse sometimes.”

The bill that seemed to awaken constituents the most was legislation to repeal a state law instituting the Fighting Sioux nickname at the University of North Dakota, she said. Native American mascots had become controversial and UND risked penalties from the National Collegiate Athletic Association. In a June 2012 referral, voters upheld the Legislature’s repeal to retire the Fighting Sioux name.

In 2001, Krebsbach was selected as president pro tempore of the Senate. Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple presided over the Senate, but there were occasions Krebsbach would need to fill in for him.

“The first time you do it it is frightening, because you’re up there, you’re looking out at all these people, knowing you’ve got to do the right procedures,” she said. The assistance of an experienced Senate clerk, Joe Wolf, kept her on track, she said.

During her first session, Krebsbach also remembers coming under the wing of Republican Rep. Rosemarie Myrdal of Edinburg, who later went on to become Schafer’s lieutenant governor. There weren’t many women in the Senate in 1989, but Myrdal was willing to aid another female legislator, Krebsbach said.

“She was so gracious and kind,” Krebsbach said. “She came to my rescue.”

In addition to her work in the Legislature, Krebsbach has served on the boards of numerous organizations in Minot, including as board chair of the Minot Area Chamber and Minot Area Development Corp., which since have merged. A graduate of Minot State University, she served on the Board of Regents and MSU Foundation Board.

Krebsbach began working while in high school with the Velva office of the Krebsbach International Harvester dealership in Minot. She married Paul Krebsbach and was active in the company for 35 years until the business closed in the early 1990s.

One of her memorable involvements, she said, was with Business Challenge, a program for high school juniors and seniors and educators, held annually in Dickinson. She said the program provided a good exchange with teachers and gave her insight into the education system that was valuable during the legislative sessions.

“The one thing that you learn to do is listen to people, and you will find out both sides of the issue. And sometimes that’s where the best compromise comes from,” Krebsbach said. “I went down thinking, ‘Oh boy, I want to just stick with my things that I want to see done for the business world. And then you see, ‘Well, I can do that, but that impact may be not so good for some other things.’ It’s an education, and you’ve got to open your mind. Then there’s sometimes you get bills that you agree with, but some of the stipulations in that bill are just way out of line for some other things, and you have to say no to it until they can get it fixed.”

Krebsbach, who is spending the winter in Arizona where she has family, said she isn’t concerned about being missed in Bismarck. Her perspective is that no one is so important they can’t be replaced. Rather, she said, it feels good to know the legislative process that she had enjoyed being part of for so long will continue.

“There’s a lot to feel good about. I don’t know how many bills I voted on, but it’s a bunch of them, that’s for sure,” Krebsbach said.

Minot senator gave, received respect

By JILL SCHRAMM

Associate Editor

jschramm@minotdailynews.com

Sen. Karen Krebsbach’s knowledge and political skills earned her the respect of colleagues during her 36 years in the North Dakota Legislature, according to some of her fellow Minot legislators.

During sessions when Republicans dominated in state government, Krebsbach always advocated for respect for each person, regardless of party, said Sen. David Hogue, R-Minot.

“She always wanted everybody to be treated with respect and to make sure that we considered both sides of policy arguments,” Hogue said. “That was just part of her natural generosity and part of the fact that she knew what it was like to be in the minority.”

Hogue also said Krebsbach’s petite stature might have fooled some people.

“People don’t realize how physically and emotionally tough she is, and I got to see that – not only as majority leader last session but working with her before that, together on Appropriations,” he said.

He had questioned how Krebsbach would do with a broken hip and wrist from a fall just before the 2023 session, but she asked for little in accommodations at the start and was doing stairs without assistance by the end of the session, he said.

“I just couldn’t believe how determined she was,” Hogue said. “I’ve served with her on conference committees, and she just had a quiet way of sort of getting what she wanted because she was patient. She knew that making the best deals for Minot involve patience and not getting too emotional. That was and is part of her emotional strength.”

Sen. Randy Burkhard, R-Minot, considers Krebsbach a friend and mentor.

“I just kind of followed her lead. I learned a lot from her, obviously. She’s such a smart person about how things work,” he said. “When I needed some help on an issue, I would grab Karen and we would corner the (committee) chairman at an event. She’s so likable and respected that they always had time to listen and she could convince them.”

He noted Krebsbach never was argumentative but made it evident in a discussion that she knew what she was talking about. She also was an expert at defending her position.

“She just makes sense out of everything,” Burckhard said. “When you’ve got Karen on something, it’s likely to work; it’s likely to pass.”

Clara Sue Price of Minot, who had served in the House during part of Krebsbach’s Senate tenure, said Krebsbach could discuss issues with those who disagreed without creating dissension. It was a tribute to her that she could keep emotions out of differences and present her facts, she said.

“There are people that didn’t always agree with Karen, but I never heard anybody not show respect to her,” Price said.

She added Krebsbach had unique strengths because of her involvement with the Minot community for so many years. Her ties with business, education through her relationship with Minot State University and healthcare through her service on the Trinity Health board gave her a lot of insights, she said.

“And she just had a true love for Minot, and that showed in everything – every project she undertook,” Price said.