One day after North Dakota State Representative Rick Becker said he plans to run as an independent for John Hoeven’s U-S Senate seat, Hoeven said he was surprised by the announcement.
“It’s disappointing that he decided to leave the Republican Party and run when he said he wasn’t going to do it,” Hoeven said while in Grand Forks on Tuesday.
In April, Hoeven narrowly defeated Becker for the State Republican nomination to run for a third term.
Becker said in April that he wouldn’t run in November. But he says big spending in Washington has changed his mind… and he’ll start gathering the 1,000 signatures he needs by Sept. 6 to get on the ballot.
State GOP Chair Perrie Schaefer said Becker vowed to “respect the decision of Republican delegates and voters — and now he is doing the exact opposite.”
On Tuesday morning, Hoeven met with leaders of Ideal Aerosmith in Grand Forks to discuss the firm’s expansion, as well as the company’s $17 million research contract with the Office of Naval Research
Later, Hoeven went to South Middle School to discuss STEMKAMP, a Department of Defense-funded program that helps bring science, technology, engineering and mathematics activities to the children of active military personnel.
“We want to see the program expand to more kids in 3rd grade all the way up to eighth grade to…learn about technology in those fields (and) we need to recruit more people into those fields,” Hoeven said.
Hoeven said the local program has attracted the maximum of 125 students the past few years. The program runs five days.
Hoeven called STEMKAMP an investment in the future success of students – and the economy.
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