U.S. House candidates Julie Fedorchak, left, a Republican, and Trygve Hammer, a Democrat, participated in a debate Aug. 30, 2024. (Photos provided by candidates via the North Dakota Monitor)
(North Dakota Monitor) -U.S. House Candidates Julie Fedorchak, a Republican, and Trygve Hammer, Democrat, both claim to have what it takes to disrupt gridlock in Congress.
They acknowledged Washington’s inability to progress on matters like immigration reform and the still-expired agriculture package known as the farm bill.
During a debate aired Friday on the Plain Talk Podcast, moderators Rob Port and Chad Oban asked them how they would make an impact as just one of 435 members in a deeply divided House of Representatives.
“You roll up your sleeves and get to work, and you don’t spend a bunch of time fighting on Fox News or MSNBC,” said Fedorchak, who in June won the Republican primary with 46% of the vote.
A longtime member of the North Dakota Public Service Commission, Fedorchak said she would also draw on her existing connections with other leaders. She was endorsed for U.S. House by former President Donald Trump, as well as multiple state office holders and North Dakota state lawmakers.
“These relationships, I’m already working to build so when I am elected by North Dakotans that I can hit the ground running and be as effective as possible,” Fedorchak said.
Hammer, in contrast, is a newcomer to politics. The Minot resident started his career in the Marine Corps, holding positions including helicopter pilot and platoon commander in Iraq.
Hammer later worked as a rig worker in the Bakken as well as a science teacher in Granville. Before launching his campaign for U.S. House, he was a train conductor in Minot.
He unsuccessfully ran for a District 6 seat in the North Dakota House of Representatives in 2022, and for an open seat on the Public Service Commission in 2022.
Hammer said his lack of political experience wouldn’t hold him back from being an effective leader, and that his experience in blue-collar fields and education means he’ll be able to craft policy that reflects the needs of average Americans.
He said he will use his military background to be a voice for service members and veterans in Congress. Roughly 80 sitting U.S. representatives are veterans, Hammer noted.
He also held himself out as a leader that can earn, and keep, the respect of the American people.
Washington needs leaders who “operate with tact, who comport themselves as adults,” he said.
Border security
Both Hammer and Fedorchak said they consider border security a majority priority.
Fedorchak said, if elected, she would work toward tightening the U.S.-Mexico border — whether by funding a physical wall or enhancing security by other means.
“We need to secure the border, and we need to start having more agents down there to protect it, and to process the people coming through,” she said.
Hammer said he would support increasing the number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents, as well as the number of asylum judges to bring down the backlog of asylum cases.
“But North Dakotans also agree that we need sensible legal pathways for immigrants to come to the United States, and they don’t want to see anything that’s unnecessarily cruel,” Hammer said.
Election integrity
Both candidates were asked whether or not they trusted the results of the 2020 election.
Fedorchak said Friday that she does think Biden’s victory in 2020 was legitimate.
“I do trust the results,” she said. “A lot of the issue, though, is that a lot of people throughout the country questioned it, and that’s a problem.”
She said states need to do more to earn the trust of Americans who have doubts about election security.
In a May debate with Republican primary candidates hosted by KFGO radio in Fargo, Fedorchak declined to answer whether or not she would have voted to certify the 2020 election if she were in Congress at the time.
“I wasn’t in Congress in 2021 and I’m not going to talk about what I would have done, or wouldn’t have done,” she said.
Hammer on Friday said the election was not stolen and blamed national Republican leaders for making false claims about election fraud.
“All doubts in the system were purposely sewn by people we should consider leaders,” Hammer said.
Abortion
Fedorchak said she supports states setting their own abortion laws — to an extent. In North Dakota, abortion is illegal except in cases of rape or incest during the first six weeks of pregnancy, or when there is a serious health risk to the mother.
She said she would advocate for setting a nationwide gestational limit at about 15 or 16 weeks, after which abortion would not be an option except in the cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.
“I feel that throughout the state of North Dakota I am very reflective of where North Dakotans as a whole are,” Fedorchak said.
Hammer disputed this claim. He said that North Dakotans generally favor abortion access, pointing to the failed initiated ballot measure to recognize fetal personhood in the state constitution in 2014.
“North Dakotans don’t really care which level of government it comes from, they don’t want that kind of interference,” Hammer said.
Hammer and Fedorchak will face off for the U.S. House seat in the Nov. 5 general election. The candidates will debate again on Prairie Public at 7 p.m. Sept. 26.
The candidates are competing to fill the seat of Republican U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong, who is running for governor. Armstrong beat Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller in the June Republican primary.
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