House Minority Leader Zac Ista, D-Grand Forks, speaks on the House floor in December 2024. Ista recently asked the Ethics Commission to analyze whether it would be an ethics violation for him to attend a study tour paid for by the government of Israel. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — North Dakota House Minority Leader Zac Ista announces that…
Lawmakers on the Joint Appropriations Committee study legislation during a January special session convened to budget the first two years of the state’s Rural Health Transformation Program funding. (Photo by Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — The federal government has approved most of North Dakota’s nearly $200 million plan implementing the first year of a massive rural…
The University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Grand Forks. UND staff, including two obstetrician-gynecologists, were commissioned by the state to create a new abortion laws training that is mandatory for doctors who perform abortions in North Dakota. (Photo courtesy of University of North Dakota)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — A new training commissioned by the North…
Attendees participate during the Bismarck-Mandan Democratic-NPL Party Region 6 District Conventions at Horizon Middle School on Feb. 7, 2026. (Photo by Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — North Dakota’s Democratic-NPL Party is seeing an uptick in legislative candidates, and leaders report higher interest from members wanting to attend the party’s state convention. But other than…
A masked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent knocks on a car window in Minnesota on Jan. 12, 2026. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)GRAND FORKS, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — Could a North Dakota law that makes it illegal for people to conceal their identities in certain situations also apply to masked immigration agents? One University of North Dakota School…
Voters cast ballots at the Hillside Aquatic Complex in Bismarck on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — A federal election security bill gaining traction in Congress wouldn’t affect North Dakota if it passes, according to the North Dakota Secretary of State’s Office. The SAVE America Act, as currently written, would require every…
Former Democratic-NPL state lawmaker Tracy Potter speaks next to Dustin Gawrylow, left, managing director of the North Dakota Watchdog Network, and Scott Skokos, center, executive director of the Dakota Resource Council, at the Kennedy Center in Bismarck on Feb. 2, 2026, about the ballot measure process in North Dakota. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) —…
e North Dakota Supreme Court hears oral arguments on Dec. 18, 2025. (Photo by Kyle Martin/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — The North Dakota Supreme Court has decided to hear a lawsuit over a ballot measure that would change voter-approved legislative term limits. The suit, filed in late January, alleges that the Legislature violated the state constitution when…
Rebecca Binstock, executive director for the North Dakota Ethics Commission, speaks during a commission meeting at the Capitol on Nov. 19, 2025. Others pictured, from left to right, are General Counsel Logan Carpenter, Commission Chair Cynthia Lindquist, then-commissioner Murray Sagsveen and commissioners Pam Sharp and Ron Goodman. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D.(North Dakota Monitor) — The North Dakota…
North Dakota House Majority Leader Rep. Mike Lefor, R-Dickinson, speaks from the House floor during the organizational session on Dec. 3, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) North Dakota’s House majority leader will not seek reelection this fall after representing the Dickinson area for more than a decade in the Legislature. Rep. Mike Lefor, R-Dickinson, issued a…
