​A lawyer in the governor’s office? Maybe.

By Jim Fuglie

jimfuglie920@gmail.com

“The first thing we do is, let’s kill all the lawyers.”

You might recall that memorable line, uttered by Dick the Butcher, from perhaps the least memorable of Shakespeare’s plays, “Henry VI.” I’ve been thinking about it because I’ve been thinking about lawyers. And governors.

It’s been 40 years since North Dakota had a lawyer in the governor’s chair. That could be coming to an end. Because right now, our congressman, Kelly Armstrong, could become the next governor of North Dakota. And Kelly’s a lawyer.

As such, he’s suffered some of the slings and arrows pointed at his profession already this year, when our lieutenant governor, Tammy Miller, who ran against him in the primary election in June (and ran one of the sleaziest — albeit losingest — campaigns I’ve ever seen) took after him for representing bad guys in his law career. Ahem, Tammy. That’s what the Sixth Amendment to our constitution is all about. Everybody gets a lawyer — even bad guys.

But that kind of stuff surfaces once in a while in legal careers and campaigns, and that can sometimes make voters gun-shy about electing lawyers as governors. Only six of our 33 governors have been lawyers, serving just 30 of our state’s 135 years. The last was Allen Olson, who was our attorney general in 1980 when he was elected to move across the hall to the governor’s office, but was sent packing in 1984 after just one term, unusual for North Dakota governors.

Three popular attorneys general have tried since then — Democrats Nick Spaeth and Heidi Heitkamp and Republican Wayne Stenehjem — but their popularity in their lawyer jobs did not translate into support in their governors’ races. All were sent back home by the voters. In fact, Allen Olson was the first and only North Dakota attorney general ever to move across the Great Hall of the North Dakota Capitol to the governor’s office.

Most lawyers in North Dakota don’t suffer such bad raps — deserved or not — as in many other states, but North Dakotans just don’t seem to think their Governors should be lawyers. Farmers and businessmen — viewed more as CEOs or managers — make up most of our governors over 135 years of statehood, with teachers mostly filling in the gaps. Part of it is, I think, that we like our shopkeepers and farm neighbors, folks we see daily, but most of us hardly ever require the services of a lawyer, so we don’t know a lot about what lawyers do on a day-to-day basis. They do a whole lot of good things. But our perception is that they sue people. And we’re not inclined to go around suing people. Or like people who do.

Enter the lawyer Kelly Armstrong. He’s not a shoo-in, although he’s been a popular United States congressman, and Republicans hold every statewide office in North Dakota right now, and the Democratic-NPL Party has yet to emerge from what is generally viewed as “disarray”—maybe that’s even too polite a term. His opponent this fall, North Dakota State Senator Merrill Piepkorn, is the most credible candidate the Democrats have offered in a while.

North Dakota Republicans this year have tied their wagon to Trump, which looks to be the wise path right now, but who knows what the chaos that seems to surround him, and his campaign, could bring in the final months. If there’s a general collapse (and I wouldn’t be surprised by that), Piepkorn and other North Dakota Democrats running credible campaigns (read: Trygve and Katrina, whose unique first names — there’s never been an elected statewide official in North Dakota with either of those names — make then easily recognizable candidates) could benefit.

But this is about the governor’s race. I think it is the first time in a long time that we have two good choices for governor. I will vote for Merrill, but if Kelly wins, he’ll be a pretty good governor, I think. Even if he is a lawyer (heh, heh).

Here’s the other thing that sets Kelly apart from history. He’s from Dickinson, and he’ll be the first governor since Art Link, first elected more than 50 years ago, who comes from west of the Missouri River. We don’t elect many of those folks from out there. Oh, Merrill’s from out west too, but Stanley, where he was born, is on the east — actually north — side of the Missouri.

Link and Armstrong have a couple of other things in common. Both left their seats in Congress to go home and run for governor. And both defeated the sitting lieutenant governor in their races for governor.

Link served just one term in Congress, from North Dakota’s West Congressional District back when our state had two seats in Congress. Although he had never been on a statewide ballot, he beat Republican Lieutenant Governor Richard Larson in that 1972 election, more than 50 years ago, in what was considered at least a minor upset. Armstrong hasn’t been elected Governor yet, but he beat Miller, the sitting lieutenant governor, in the primary in June.

Merrill has lived in Fargo a long time, since he was a boy, I think, and while Kelly continues to claim Dickinson, where he was born, has his home, he moved his family to Bismarck after he was elected to Congress so he wouldn’t have to make the long drive from the Bismarck Airport to Dickinson late on Friday night when he came home from Washington on weekends. “Eight minutes from the airport instead of 100 miles with a time change,” he told me recently.

Merrill’s been a State Senator for most of eight years, beating popular incumbent Tim Flakoll in 2016 and again in a rematch in 2020. His name is pretty well-known across the state, as the voice of “Dakota Datebook” on Prairie Public Radio. He heads up a local band called “The Radio Stars,” and plays widely at events across the state. He’s pretty good, too, and in addition to singing folksy songs, he dresses folksy, generally eschewing neckties for western-style bolo ties when he takes his seat in the Senate. It’s been a while since I saw one of those in the North Dakota governor’s office. Art Link, maybe.

Merrill’s one of only four Democrats in the North Dakota Senate (43 are Republicans), all four of whom are from Fargo, and he’s giving up his seat this year to run for Governor. But his district, District 44, is pretty solid Democrat, and they should be able to hold the seat this year. They don’t often say it out loud, but the Democratic-NPL caucus in the North Dakota Senate is so small they can all ride home to Fargo for the weekend during legislative sessions in one car.

It's a long shot, but maybe the four of them can stop down and visit Merrill at the other end of the Great Hall of the North Dakota Capitol next January. But Kelly, too, is a former state senator, serving six years in the North Dakota Capitol before moving on to Congress. He’d have to find a bigger room to host his former Senate colleagues.

This one is going to be fun to watch. I know both of these guys. Don’t underestimate either one of them.

Footnote: I won’t be surprised if Governor Burgum, after all his meanderings across the national stage in his quixotic attempt to really be somebody, decides not to finish his term as Governor, and lets Ms. Miller have his chair for a few months this fall.