Pat Finken is a long-time political consultant in North Dakota who now heads up an independent political action committee called the Brighter Future Alliance. Finken and his group have come under fire from U.S. House candidate Rick Becker and his allies for mailers attacking Becker and his voting record.

Finken joined this episode of Plain Talk my me and my co-host Chad Oban, and said his goal is to reveal for the public that Becker is a "show pony."

"He is not a serious legislator," Finken added. As for Becker's response to his group's mailers? "This is what all politicians do when someone criticizes them," Finken said. "They play the victim."

Becker has disputed Finken's assertions that, by voting against budgets for the North Dakota Highway Patrol and the North Dakota National Guard, he opposes law enforcement and the military. He argues that it's possible to object to a budget without objecting to what that budget funds.

But Finken says the difference is that Becker was only voting no, not working to improve those budgets. "He didn't come back with an alternative," Finken said.

"If he was a serious legislator he would have worked to make changes," he added.

Also, on this episode, Oban and I discuss the recent polling released in the Republican guberantorial primary showing U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong with a massive lead over Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller.

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The State of North Dakota is back in court over redistricting. This time, the state is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a lower court decision that the state had previously argued for. Specifically, the dismissal of a lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of legislative subdistricts created by lawmakers in an attempt to enhance the state's Native American vote in two districts.

The courts ended up striking down that map anyway and replacing it with a new one, but this separate legal action questions whether creating subdistricts in just two districts passes muster under the 14th amendment's equal protection provisions.

Is it constitutional for some North Dakotans to vote for just two members of the Legislature on election day, while others get to vote for three?

Robert Harms, an attorney (and a Republican candidate for the state Senate in District 2) joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss the case.

Also on this episode, Nick Archuleta, the president of North Dakota United, joined to discuss a recent study looking at teacher pay which indicates that North Dakota is moving down the rankings in terms of average salaries for educators.

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Racial incidents keep happening at North Dakota school events.

At basketball games. Proms. Hockey games. Part of the problem is, we don't know if they're happening more, or less. Maybe we're just noticing them more now that everyone has a smartphone in their pocket and the ability to document the taunts and jeers and boorish behavior.

State Rep. Jayme Davis is a Democrat from District 9a, which covers the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation. In the state House of Representatives, she's the minority caucus leader. She wants to do something about this problem.

"I don't look for racism. That's not something I look for in my daily life," she said on this episode of Plain Talk. "But it shows up."

During the 2023 session, Davis introduced a resolution calling for a study of racial incidents at North Dakota school events. It passed, but the the Legislature's interim committees chose not to take it up. But she says she's not going to stop trying. She'd like to see data collected about these incidents, to measure the scope of the problem, and she'd also liked to see more training for the state's educators, sports officials, and even lawmakers.

Also on this episode, are North Dakota's political leaders being too tough on electric vehicles? And what was with South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem bragging about killing a dog? Me and co-host Chad Oban discuss.

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