Fedorchak wins by double digits in 5-way Republican House primary

U.S. House candidate Julie Fedorchak speaks to delegates during the 2024 NDGOP convention in Fargo on April 6, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

North Dakota Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak won the Republican primary Tuesday night, defeating four challengers to compete for the state’s at-large congressional seat.

Fedorchak received 46% of the vote in early results, with The Associated Press declaring her the winner at 9:19 p.m.

Former Bismarck lawmaker Rick Becker received 29%, former Miss America Cara Mund had 20%, NDGOP convention-endorsed candidate Alex Balazs had 4% and Williston woman Sharlet Mohr had 1% with 332 out of 385 precincts reporting.

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For more coverage of the June 11 primary, visit our North Dakota Election 2024 page.

Sean Cleary, Fedorchak’s campaign manager, said Fedorchak was happy to be able to spend the night with her supporters and that she was feeling great.

“I’m really proud of her and the race we ran, and it’s been a really special night to spend it with supporters who devoted a lot to helping us be successful in the last couple months,” Cleary said.

He said the campaign plans to continue their conservative messaging into the November race.

Fedorchak has served on the Public Service Commission since 2013 and is president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. She stood for reelection three times as a Republican member of the commission and garnered more than 66% of the statewide vote in those elections.

Fedorchak received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump over the Freedom Caucus hopeful Becker during the final days of the campaign. She also received endorsements from multiple state office holders and members of the North Dakota Legislature.

Earlier in the day, Fedorchak alleged election interference during a news conference after multiple text messages surfaced saying she had dropped out of the race.

The campaign alleges the text messages were sent to thousands of North Dakotans and is in the process of filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, requesting an investigation into the incident.

In an interview with the North Dakota Monitor, Becker denied the text messages were from him, or his campaign. In a statement, the Becker campaign condemned “any effort to try and mislead or misinform the voters.”

After The Associated Press called the race for Fedorchak, Becker said he wanted to wait for more votes to come in before calling his opponent and making a concession speech.

“It looks like the handwriting is on the wall, but we wanted to let a few more precincts come in,” he said.

Republican moderate candidate Cara Mund said she was grateful to receive 20% of the vote, but she still has concerns that Fedorchak will do whatever former President Donald Trump says.

“I do have concerns, too, during the last debate when she said there are post-birth abortions and just the misinformation on women’s reproductive health care is really concerning,” Mund said.

She also thanked her supporters and said she would not rule out another run at elected office in the future.

Becker said he plans to support Fedorchak in her November general election campaign against Democratic-NPL candidate Trygve Hammer.

Hammer easily defeated his primary challenger Roland Riemers with 75% of the vote, which sets up a showdown with Fedorchak in the November for the two-year term in the U.S. House.

Republican U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer and his Dem-NPL challenger Katrina Christiansen both ran unopposed in the statewide primary and will face off during the Nov. 5 general election.

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