EXCLUSIVE — A low-key primary contest for North Dakota‘s sole House seat has intensified, with Republican candidates launching ads and websites attacking each other as both look to replace outgoing Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND).
For a seat that Cook Political Report rates as solid Republican with R+20, either Bismarck plastic surgeon and former state Rep. Rick Becker or North Dakota Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak would likely win the 2024 general election in November. Ahead of the primary on June 11, Becker and Fedorchak are looking to sway voters based on who has the best conservative record to increase the Republican majority in the House.
Becker is launching a website called therealjulie.com this weekend, labeling Fedorchak a “swamp creature,” “lobbyist,” and “RINO,” or Republican in name only, according to the site shared exclusively with the Washington Examiner.
“Republican candidates across the country generally run like very principled conservatives, but when they get elected, they tend to be very squishy, unprincipled moderates, in many cases, and I believe very much that’s the case with Julie,” Becker said in an interview.
“So, this is an effort to lay out the facts and the truths about my opponent,” Becker added.
The website attacks Fedorchak on abortion, citing a 2009 column in the Bismarck Tribune stating she supported “mantain[ing] choice.” It also notes her support of “woke green energy policies” and her connection to then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s campaign as a member of the North Dakota Statewide Steering Committee.
“Julie’s not for North Dakota. She’s for the swamp,” the website says.
Sean Cleary, Fedorchak’s campaign manager, said in a statement to the Washington Examiner that Becker is trying to “blatantly mislead North Dakotans with pathetic political tactics and name calling.”
“His constant shameless maneuvering is an insult to voters’ intelligence,” Cleary said. “Becker’s reliance on underhanded tactics and self-funding to try and bail out his failing campaign exposes the true nature of his candidacy.”
Becker said it’s up to the voters to “try and discern who is a conservative, who is not, and it’s very difficult when we all sound the same.”
“Fortunately for voters, I have a very long and very open record voting record for 10 years. Julie, as a public utilities regulator, it can be difficult to discern her record,” Becker added.
Becker has received several endorsements from House Freedom Caucus members like Reps. Ralph Norman (R-SC) and Andrew Clyde (R-GA), as well as former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. He has said in several posts that he is an “America First” conservative, aligning himself with the hard-line flank of the House Republican Party that has given Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) headaches on more than one occasion this Congress.
Despite his endorsements, Becker said he considers himself a liberty-minded Republican who had to work with more moderate leadership in the North Dakota legislature to pass legislation such as the “North Dakota gun sanctuary state bill” and other measures involving Fourth Amendment and Fifth Amendment protections. He plans to “carry that same model with me” to Washington, D.C., if elected, he said.
However, he thinks the House would benefit from more “liberty-minded” Republicans than moderates because he thinks centrists do not adhere to conservative principles that advance the party’s agenda.
“If you have principles, allegedly, but back off and pull away from them when it’s convenient, or when it’s inconvenient to maintain them, they’re not actually principles — they’re just loose guidelines,” Becker said. “So the way I look at it, moderate is not a term I’m interested in. Moderate tells me that you’re not sticking to principle, you’re not a principled person.”
He has received some backlash from Fedorchak’s campaign for his previous primary Senate run as an independent against Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) in 2022, which he lost. When asked about his decision to run as an independent, Becker argued against his opponent’s attacks, arguing that he was a 10-year Republican state legislator and only ran as an independent because he ran after the primary.
“You just cannot be put on the ballot with a designated party affiliation. So you see, in that election, while I was an active Republican state legislator, it was by necessity that I had to check the box that said independent,” Becker said.
Fedorchak’s campaign and supporters are not wasting any time when it comes to attacking Becker, as well. A mailer from the Brighter Future Alliance, a North Dakota-based political organization not associated with Fedorchak, provided to the Washington Examiner attacks Becker for being “pro-illegal immigration” and “anti-police,” detailing several bills that Becker voted against during his time as a state representative.
The campaign pointed to Becker’s “no” votes against several bills or resolutions, such as HCR 3025 in 2019, which urged Congress and former President Donald Trump to construct a border wall. His vote a few years ago is at odds with his current stance. In an interview with North Dakota Monitor, Becker said that, if elected, he would not vote for any spending bills at didn’t include securing the southern border, a pledge not unlike arguments made by Freedom Caucus members in recent weeks, and was not in favor of closing the border completely.
Cleary said Becker can reinvent himself but North Dakotans have not forgotten his previous political decisions.
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“Rick can try to rebrand himself, but people have not forgotten that he ran a failed candidacy as an independent against a Republican, and he has a liberal record voting against life, securing the border, and law enforcement,” Cleary said.
“North Dakotans see straight through the antics of a desperate failed politician like Rick Becker,” Cleary added.
