When North Dakotans cast their primary ballots, it is not just for state and federal contests. Local offices are up for grabs, and civic groups say the positions directly impact people's lives.

The June 14 primary will pick nominees for legislative seats, as well as the U.S. Senate, and locally, voters will decide the outright winners for municipal seats. There are a record number of candidates for Fargo mayor and city commission.

Whitney Oxendahl, Vote 411 coordinator for the League of Women Voters of North Dakota, said it is not surprising to see a lot of people motivated to run.

"There's been a lot of things that have happened in the past few years, with the pandemic, with diversity, equity, and inclusion," Oxendahl observed. "And so, you have a lot of people coming out to stand on different platforms."

She noted local candidates are often more accessible to engaged voters.

Fargo is again using approval voting, which allows people to choose as many candidates as they want. Meanwhile, June 13 is the deadline for submitting absentee ballots in North Dakota.

Janelle Moos, advocacy director for AARP North Dakota, said local elections are a way for older residents to feel like their voice is heard on key decisions before their community. She emphasized it is especially important in cities with an aging population.

"How can candidates make their streets and their neighborhoods more safe, including bike-friendly, walk friendly?" Moos asked. "How can they encourage and find ways to keep residents in their communities, and in their homes longer?"

Elections often turn on economics and demographics. New AARP research found half of women voters age 50 and older said the economy is not working well for them.

Erika White, auditor for Burleigh County, said in addition to studying local candidates, voters should find out if their legislative district changed based on new census data.

"Ten years is a long time and that's how long people reside in a certain legislative district," White pointed out. "Seeing which district you reside in and see if you're voting on any legislative candidate is always a great thing to look into."

The League of Women Voters and AARP have voter guides posted on their websites.

A decision could come today on Nevada's bid to become the first state in the nation to hold a Democratic primary in 2024.

The Democratic National Committee is meeting to consider whether to change the traditional order of Iowa, then New Hampshire, and then South Carolina.

Judith Whitmer, chair of the Nevada Democratic Party, said Nevada delivered the Senate for the Democrats in the midterms and fits the bill as a small, diverse state which lends itself to retail politics, where candidates must engage with voters in person.

"The criteria are diversity and competitiveness," Whitmer pointed out. "It needs to be in a media market that isn't so overpriced that candidates can't afford it coming out of the gate."

The Nevada Republican Party is expected to hold its primary on the same day as the Democrats. Gov. Steve Sisolak signed a law last year instituting a statewide primary, replacing the former caucus system. No significant opposition has arisen in-state but multiple other states are vying to go first on the primary calendar, including Michigan, Minnesota and New Hampshire.

Emmanuelle Leal, national communications director for Somos Votantes, a group focused on Latino voter engagement, said Nevada provides an ideal location.

"The country does not look like Iowa. The country does not look like New Hampshire," Leal stressed. "The country looks like Nevada: a state with a diverse population of people of color, unions, with rural and urban families."

Leal noted the state chosen to go first will garner a huge amount of national attention and political influence, and will see an influx of millions in election-related spending.

Local candidates that signed onto a no-corporate-money pledge made midterm election gains in Charleston.

Katie Lauer, co-chair of West Virginia Can't Wait, said the organization now has two dozen bipartisan elected officials - including Republicans, Democrats and independents in public office across the state. She said the wins signal Mountain State voters are paying less attention to politics and more on the issues affecting their lives.

"Our goal for this cycle was to double that number to get 22 elected officials into office, and we not only met that goal, but surpassed it. So we now have 24 elected officials across the state," Lauer said. Some are on city council, some are on school boards, some are on county commissions."

Around 35% of voters statewide went to the polls for the midterms, according to a U.S. Elections Project Analysis.

She said Charleston's officials are focused on decriminalizing cannabis, instituting harm-reduction programs for substance use, addressing trauma among youths and families, and increasing minimum-wage and paid sick days for workers.


"And the question we're asking is, are there things that we can do right here at home that address the problems right in our backyard?," she said. "And who from whatever party wants to come to the table and help solve those problems?"

West Virginia Can't Wait was founded in late 2018 and ran its first slate of candidates in 2020.

The holidays can be stressful, and our deeply divided political times can make it harder to see family. But efforts across the country are happening to bridge the gap in our differences. One such effort is from the organization Braver Angels, a national nonprofit that holds events in Washington and other states.

Bill Doherty, Braver Angels co-founder, has advice for people who may be sitting down at the Thanksgiving table with family members of different political leanings. He said folks should not try to enlighten them or make them change.

"Let people be. That's number one. And number two, when somebody differs from you, try to practice curiosity rather than convincing them," Doherty said.

Braver Angels' next event in Washington state is on November 29 at the Spokane Public Library. The nonprofit is holding an in-person workshop on communication skills for bridging our political divides.

Along with helping found the organization, Doherty also designed its workshops, which bring together so-called "reds" and "blues," or people on the right and the left. He said when face to face, folks find they're not so different.

"They get past stereotypes, they see common ground -- because it's almost always there in some way -- and they come out having lowered their hostility meter, if you will, towards people who differ from them politically," he said.

John Wood Junior, a national ambassador for Braver Angels, said when it comes to political divisions, things likely have to get worse before they get better. But Wood also noted there's momentum behind depolarization, as evidenced by his organization and many others that are working to build bridges in our society.

"There's serious movement in a constructive direction towards repairing these divides," he said, "and so that's going to bear fruit in a visible way as well in the years and even the months to come."


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