BISMARCK, N.D. (KFGO/KCND) – North Dakota’s political parties are organizing for the next legislative session. One item is selecting party leadership.
For Republicans, there could be a three-way race for House majority leader. Carrington Rep. Chet Pollert is the current leader, but decided to not seek re-election.
“One of the reasons I ran for majority leader is because I believe that the House caucus has sort of disintegrated over the last two or three sessions with leadership,” said Fargo Rep. Jim Kasper.
Kasper said party leaders have not been communicating with members. He said he would change that and work to reunite the party.
He said he told the Bastiat Caucus they need to stop their caucus.
“We’re going to have a united caucus in the Republican House,” Kasper said. “We’re going to discuss issues in our caucus. We’re going to have good discussions. I’m going to form a leadership team of a lot of people.”
Kasper, who’s been in the House since 2001, said another problem he’s seen is that leadership has around a half-dozen people who make the decisions and tell everyone what to do. He disagrees with that.
Rep. Robin Weisz, from Hurdsfield, and Rep. Mike Lefor, from Dickinson, are also interested in becoming majority leader.