Following our article on Burgum’s big donation to the Dakota Leadership PAC, a reader sent me the television ad I referenced. The ad supporting Dave Nehring and David Andhal is paid for by the PAC and is apparently in heavy rotation. Perhaps Bismarck/Mandan followers have the words memorized in the below video. Take a glance.

[Forgive the quality. A reader recorded it from their phone and sent it my way. Perhaps those working in the PAC who follow NDx would be so kind as to upload a high-quality video on YouTube.]

Let’s see if it checks out for a truly generic ND political ad. Make a check mark if you hear the following.

  • Businessmen
  • Farm
  • Ranch
  • Political outsiders
  • Support Trump
  • Coal
  • Oil
  • Diversify the economy
  • TERM LIMITS

Yep. Checks out. Hell, I wish we could replay a 2016 ad from Burgum’s campaign and compare for similarities. Believe me, I tried. Unfortunately, those flashy and effective ads have been removed from YouTube! Consider this a second request for those same PAC workers mentioned above.

Sarcasm aside, the ad is well put together and effective. I’m sure it wasn’t cheap. I suspect it may have been put together by the same out-of-state ad agency Burgum used in 2016. They can tell me otherwise and I’d be glad to share.

We don’t have an ad to compare, but we have further proof the Burgum campaign is all-in on this District 8 race. Below is a screen capture of an email sent from the Burgum campaign this morning (May 13, 2020). “Andahl and Nehring are the outsiders we need in District 8.” We meaning Doug Burgum and Brent Sanford.

Burgum is all-in. He plans to rid himself of the barriers found in the Republican majority. Some of us have been talking about those same barriers for a long time. How much money will it take to “reinvent” the North Dakota Legislature? Perhaps we will find out. Will any of the big-money lobbyists come to the aid of the House Appropriations Chair Jeff Delzer? What happens if Burgum loses this gamble?

Tyler Axness
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