712: 'North Dakotans want people who are going to get to work'

If there were a throughline for North Dakota's recent primary vote that ran from the top-of-the-ticket statewide races to local competitions like the Fargo mayoral race, it would be the rejection of belligerent ideologues in favor of pragmatic public servants.

That's the argument Fargo's mayor-elect Josh Boschee made on this episode of Plain Talk. "North Dakotans want people who are going to get to work," Boschee said, as opposed to candidates who are "hung up on ideology."

Voters want public servants, not talk radio hosts and influencers, it seems.

Boschee, a long-time Democratic state Senator, won the nonpartisan race over City Commissioner Michelle Turnberg, a self-described "conservative" who has adopted a belligerent approach to elected office and remains in her current office. How will the new mayor contend with that sort of friction, which, in recent years, has become routine in Fargo's city government? He says he's ready for it.

"I think some people want to frame it as, because we were two opponents, and we'll be working together, that there might be a lot of conflict, and that certainly may end up being true. But as you guys have seen me in the legislature, I mean, there are plenty of legislators that use a similar leadership style as Commissioner Turnberg, and I've been able to work with them, especially when we focus on the issues that we share."

Boschee says he's focused on being a mayor for everyone in Fargo, including those who voted against him.

"I've been in a lot of elections, and what I've learned, for one thing, is elections are about addition and not subtraction," he said. "And when you only focus on your base, you only focus on the people who are cheerleading you or pat you on the back every time you say something  or comment on Facebook, you're not going to grow your coalition."

In his victory speech after the election, Boschee made reference to a recent Facebook post made by Fargo-area Rep. Desiree Morton, objecting to volunteers of Somali heritage volunteering to help the campaigns of Republican U.S. Rep. Julie Fedorchak and local legislative candidates. He told us he thought it was something important to highlight.

"20% of Fargo are people of color. A good number of them are folks who come from other parts of the world," he said. "I've stood up to my legislative colleagues when they've said inappropriate things about other North Dotans, and that's not going to change in the mayor's office."

Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I discussed the similarities between Boschee and Gov. Kelly Armstrong, despite their obvious ideological differences, as well as the decline of North Dakota's populist movement.

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