Bismarck Senate Candidate Makes Move to Qualify for November Election

Democratic-NPL candidate Matthew Zimny, left, and Republican state Sen. Diane Larson, right. (Contributed via the North Dakota Monitor)

(Michael Achterling – North Dakota Monitor) -A Bismarck-area state Senate candidate said he’s ready for the final weeks of campaigning after establishing residency in the district this summer.

Democratic-NPL candidate Matthew Zimny, an emergency medicine physician at Sanford Health, had been living on the north side of Bismarck while his home was being constructed in District 30 on the south side of the city.

His home is still under construction, but his family moved into a townhome rental within District 30 over the summer.

Zimny needed to establish residency in the district by Oct. 5 to maintain his ballot eligibility, which he did.

“From my family’s standpoint, the bigger issue was being in the school district,” Zimny said in an interview with the North Dakota Monitor.

He said he needed to receive a waiver from the school district so his kids could attend school on the south side of Bismarck before they moved into their rental.

Zimny is campaigning with fellow Dem-NPL legislative candidates, Shari Orser, House candidate for District 32, and Joshua Johnson, Senate candidate for District 34.

Zimny said his door-to-door interactions with residents in the district have been largely positive, and he believes enthusiasm for Democratic candidates has never been higher in the area.

“We can’t keep Harris-Walz signs in stock,” he said.

Zimny added he thinks some Republican voters in the area are beginning to feel fatigued with the Republican supermajority in the Legislature.

His opponent in the District 30 Senate race, Republican incumbent Sen. Diane Larson, said she’s also received positive responses during her door knocking efforts on the city’s south side.

“For me, going door-to-door is very affirming,” Larson said.

She said she thinks some voter fatigue may have been due to arguments within the Republican Party during the primary process. She added she doesn’t think people will want to change their value system just because they are tired of politics.

Larson also wanted to push back against Democratic Party mailers that say she doesn’t support public education. She said she supports public instruction, but also is in favor of funding additional school choice programs or education savings accounts.

She also said, while she hasn’t met Zimny, she’s not discounting his campaign and plans to continue door knocking up to Election Day.

“He hasn’t been somebody I’ve ever met in my district before, but, of course, he hasn’t lived in my district before,” Larson said.