487: 'I'm not sure that we're achieving justice at this point'

Plain Talk

It's campaign season, and unfortunately in the news cycle that often means substantive policy discussions takes a back seat to aspersions and invective from political campaigns.

We have a bit of both on this episode of Plain Talk. Yes, we talk about U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong throwing the first punch in what promises to be a nasty gubernatorial primary against Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller. And yes, we interviewed U.S. House candidate Tom Campbell, who said one of his primary opponents, Julie Fedorchak, has "threatened" him in an attempt to force him out of what is now a four-way race.

But before we got to any of that, we had a conversation with Travis Finck, the executive director of North Dakota's woefully underfunded public defender system. Finck recently delivered a report to state lawmakers detailing problems he has with filling open positions and providing legal services to criminal defendants who have a constitutional right to them.

He said his office is very close to telling district court judges that they may have to prioritize cases, and may not be able to have someone appear at every hearing. "I'm not sure that we're achieving justice at this point," he told co-host Chad Oban and I on this episode of Plain Talk.

Campbell, meanwhile, says he is under intense pressure to get out of the House race. "Julie's campaign called my campaign and threatened me," he said, claiming Fedorchak's people said they would bring up his supposed residency issues as well as his family's decision to sell farm land to billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

Campbell said the residency issue -- which he says has to do with his owning a lake residence in Minnesota -- is "beyond ridiculous." As for the land sale, he says he's had questions about it on the campaign trail. "Once I tell them the truth they're like, you need to tell people about that," he said.

He says he hopes North Dakota's House race doesn't get as negative as the gubernatorial primary. When I asked him how he squares that preference with his support for former President Donald Trump, who is notorious for his pugnacious demeanor, he said that "Donald Trump is his own enemy." He said Trump has done "immoral" things, and while he prefers the presumptive Republican nominee to the incumbent, President Joe Biden, "I wish we could have found someone better," he said.

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