North Dakota Republican Delegates Vote to Remove Party Brand From Officials Who Skip Convention

(Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – Tensions between factions of the North Dakota Republican Party reached a new high Saturday as state convention delegates narrowly approved a motion removing the party brand from candidates not in attendance.

The debate came as all statewide elected officials, including those not on the ballot, skipped the convention, a move political observers have called unprecedented. A total of 707 delegates are participating in the weekend convention, about half the size of the crowd two years ago.

Jerol Gohrick, chair of the District 2 GOP, proposed to strip the Republican Party brand from any incumbent elected officials who did not attend the convention. Supporters of the motion called incumbents RINOS, or Republicans in name only, and said their absence showed they don’t care about their constituents.

“You want to thumb your nose at the Republican state convention, how can you expect its endorsement?” said Clint Feland of Bismarck, a delegate from District 8.