Former Republican lawmaker challenges North Dakota law on false political ads

BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — A former North Dakota lawmaker is seeking to overturn a state law that makes it a crime to lie or make intentionally misleading statements in political ads.

Brandon Prichard, who represented Bismarck in the Legislature in 2023 and 2024, on Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s corrupt practices law, claiming that it violates the First Amendment.

The Republican is a controversial figure in North Dakota politics in part for his attacks on incumbent Republican lawmakers.

Prichard says he’s been subjected to multiple investigations under the law, which makes it a class A misdemeanor to knowingly or with “reckless disregard for its truth or falsity” publish something false or misleading about a candidate or ballot measure.

He claims the investigations are baseless, but that they’ve caused him to self-censor for fear of further legal repercussions.

“I’m not opposed to there being some regulations on egregious political speech that defames people,” Prichard said in an interview Thursday with the North Dakota Monitor. “But what we have here is something that’s overly broad.”

Prichard’s political action committee, Citizens Alliance of North Dakota, is also listed as a plaintiff in the case.

The lawsuit names Attorney General Drew Wrigley, Burleigh County State’s Attorney Julie Lawyer as well as the North Dakota Ethics Commission and its executive director, Rebecca Binstock, as defendants.

In court documents, Prichard claims he and his wife, Kathryn Prichard, are under investigation by the Burleigh County State’s Attorney’s Office for alleged violations of the corrupt practices law. The lawsuit doesn’t contain specifics about what prompted the inquiry.

Prichard also references in the suit a cease and desist letter he received from an attorney for Rep. Jason Dockter, R-Bismarck. The letter claimed Citizens Alliance of North Dakota violated the corrupt practices statute by funding a billboard that said Dockter stole North Dakotans’ money, the lawsuit says.

Prichard says the billboard was referencing the fact that in 2024, a Burleigh County jury convicted Dockter of a conflict-of-interest misdemeanor for voting on legislation that he had a financial interest in. Dockter was not charged with stealing money.

The lawsuit says Prichard has also had multiple North Dakota Ethics Commission complaints filed against him under the statute. That includes an active complaint filed against him in 2023 and two others filed against him and Citizens Alliance of North Dakota in 2024 that have since been dismissed, according to the complaint.

Prichard believes the 2023 complaint accuses him of lying about his residency and student status while serving as a state representative. The Ethics Commission keeps details about complaints confidential unless they’re found to be substantiated and the accused has a chance to appeal, so the content of the complaints cannot be corroborated.

Prichard caught criticism in 2023 after he publicly described himself as a law student at the University of Minnesota. Prichard was an undergraduate student at the university at the time, though not enrolled in the law school.

He also says that even though he was a University of Minnesota student, he still lived in his legislative district.

Prichard notes in the lawsuit that legislative candidate Duane Sand was accused of violating the corrupt practices statute in 2018.

Burleigh County prosecutors charged Sand with publication of false information in political advertisements after opponent George Keiser filed a police report alleging Sand had misstated the incumbent’s voting record, The Bismarck Tribune reported.

Sand later made police reports accusing Keiser and others of breaking the same law. Prosecutors dropped the charge against Sand after all involved reached a private settlement and agreed to stop pursuing the complaints.

During the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers amended the corrupt practices law to include not only things like political mailers and billboards, but also statements made through phone calls, texts and social media.

Sen. Sean Cleary, a Bismarck Republican who was campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Julie Fedorchak, introduced the amendment that added text messages and phone calls. On the day of the June 2024 primary, anonymous text messages falsely claimed that Fedorchak had dropped out of the five-way race.

Prichard testified during the session that the Legislature should repeal the law entirely or at least make it less restrictive.

He said that the proper way to deal with false political speech is to counter it with truthful speech.

“The other option is you’re going to use the forceful hand of the government to say what’s true and what’s not,” he told the Monitor.

Pat Finken, a retired North Dakota political consultant, said he supports the law.

“I think that accountability in that way is necessary,” he said. “The bottom of that downward slide is a pretty ugly place if you can say anything you want without any kind of accountability.”

The lawsuit on Thursday was assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Dan Traynor.

The Attorney General’s Office on Thursday afternoon said it had not yet reviewed the complaint.

Binstock, the North Dakota Ethics Commission’s executive director, said to her knowledge the commission had not been served with the lawsuit and that the commission does not comment on pending litigation.

The Burleigh County State’s Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

North Dakota Monitor reporter Mary Steur can be reached at msteurer@northdakotamonitor.com.