Trio of candidates announces run for ND state legislature

BISMARCK, ND (KXNET) — Today, a few candidates told a group of people in Bismarck why they should be the Republican nominee in the upcoming primary in June. Governor Kelly Armstrong appeared at a Bismarck cafe earlier today to campaign for incumbent State Senator Michelle Axtman, alongside State House candidates Greg Vetter and Steve Sauter.

They are running as a slate in district seven, representing Bismarck.

“This isn’t the beginning or the end of anything, this is the beginning of a process,” Governor Armstrong said. “This goes through the convention and primary and general election and the process works its way all the way through. I don’t know if anybody saw what happened in the special election in Texas last week. Anybody who takes anything for granted in politics right now is making a dangerous, dangerous mistake.”

Following the governor’s speech, Senator Axtman and the other candidates all spoke briefly. The trio is opposed by a slate of candidates led by former North Dakota State Representative Rick Becker. Sauter and Vetter are first time political candidates while Axtman was elected to the State Senate in 2022.