Arguments set in court case challenging 4 North Dakota legislative candidates

The North Dakota Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments for later this month in a court case challenging the eligibility of four Republican legislative candidates.

Three Republican Party officials, two of whom lost their primary elections in June, want the court to essentially invalidate the candidacies and overturn the potential general election victories of four GOP House nominees. They are Blaine DesLauriers, Terry Goerger, Tim Mihalick and Steve Sauter, who are running in districts in the Bismarck, Minot and Richland County areas. 

The challengers are District 25 GOP Chair Matt Evans, outgoing Rep. Jeff Hoverson, R-Minot, and District 7 GOP Executive Committee member Douglas Pearson. Evans and Hoverson lost their primaries to DesLauriers, Goerger and Mihalick.

Lawsuit challenges legality of 4 North Dakota legislative candidates

The challengers allege Secretary of State Michael Howe’s office treated candidate petitions inconsistently, allowing some to amend or correct incomplete petition signer information but rejecting others’ petitions. The challengers ultimately want the four seats declared vacant and filled by appointment, a method that would favor them. Correspondence between Prichard and state election officials in court documents indicates that candidates were allowed to make corrections but not if they submitted last-minute petitions.

Citizens Alliance of North Dakota is leading the court case. Former state Rep. Brandon Prichard leads the conservative group.

The court on Friday scheduled oral arguments by videoconference for Oct. 21. Court filings from both sides are due Oct. 15. 

Justices Douglas Bahr and Jerod Tufte are disqualified in the case. It’s unclear why. 

Absentee voting began last month in North Dakota’s November general election. 

Election-related challenges aren’t unusual for the court. In 2020 alone, the court took an initiated measure off the general election ballot, removed a Democratic-NPL statewide candidate due to a residency dispute, and determined who got to fill the seat of a legislative candidate who died during fall voting.

Howe has declined to comment on the Citizens Alliance case, citing the pending litigation. Sauter previously told the North Dakota Monitor he followed the law and trusts Howe’s office.

Prichard has said the secretary of state “cannot invent extra-statutory curing rules for favored candidates while strictly rejecting citizens’ petitions for minor technical omissions.”

The case shows the divisions within North Dakota’s dominant Republican Party, particularly over how candidates get on the ballot, whether by party endorsement or petition signatures.

The court on Wednesday denied a case brought by Michael Coachman, a frequent candidate who sought to get on the November ballot as an independent running for secretary of state. Coachman came up short of enough signatures after Howe’s office rejected some due to incomplete information. The court’s one-page order did not elaborate on its reasoning.

Reach North Dakota Monitor reporter Jack Dura at [email protected].