BISMARCK, N.D. — A longtime public utilities regulator announced her candidacy Thursday for North Dakota’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Republican Julie Fedorchak has served on the state’s three-member Public Service Commission since 2013. She has won three statewide elections, the most recent in 2022 with more than 71% of the vote.
Fedorchak told a packed room of Republican state officials, lawmakers and party faithful at GOP headquarters in Bismarck that she would focus on energy, agriculture and the country’s financial well-being. She said she would like to serve on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, using her knowledge from her work on the regulatory panel “to help rein in runaway agencies and support energy policies that address fundamental recognizes the role that energy plays in public safety and our economy’. and national security.”
“The simple principles we follow in North Dakota and that work well in our state government are the same foundations that will help us overcome the mountain of challenges facing our country,” Fedorchak said.
North Dakota has an open race for its seat in the House of Representatives as Republican Rep. Kelly Armstrong, first elected in 2018, is running for governor.
Other Republican House candidates include former state Rep. Rick Becker, a plastic surgeon, and former Sen. Tom Campbell, a potato farmer.
Democrat Trygve Hammer, a military veteran, is also a candidate. A Democrat has not won an election in North Dakota since 2012.
North Dakota’s dominant Republican Party will endorse candidates for state offices and congressional seats at its April convention in Fargo. Voters in the June primary will nominate candidates for November.
Fedorchak told reporters she plans to seek the Republican Party’s endorsement at the convention but will run in the primaries.
If elected, she would be the first woman to represent North Dakota in the U.S. House.