Trygve Hammer to challenge GOP incumbent Kelly Armstrong in bid to represent ruby-red ND
- Democratic military veteran Trygve Hammer of Minot, North Dakota, has launched his campaign to unseat the Peace Garden State's sole congressional representative, Kelly Armstrong.
- "It is time to elect a pro-union, pro-choice, and pro-democracy leader to represent North Dakota in the U.S. House of Representatives," Hammer said in his announcement.
- Armstrong, a Republican, was first elected to his seat in 2018 after his predecessor, Kevin Cramer, retired in favor of a successful U.S. Senate bid.
A Democratic military veteran is seeking North Dakota's sole U.S. House seat, aiming for an upset in a state where Republicans hold every statewide and congressional office and Democrats haven't won a statewide election since Heidi Heitkamp’s U.S. Senate victory in 2012.
NORTH DAKOTA LAWMAKER HIT WITH MISDEMEANOR CHARGE IN SPECULATION CASE
"It is time to elect a pro-union, pro-choice, and pro-democracy leader to represent North Dakota in the U.S. House of Representatives," Trygve Hammer, of Minot, said in announcing his candidacy on Wednesday. He's challenging incumbent Republican Rep. Kelly Armstrong, an attorney and former state senator elected to the seat in 2018.
The U.S. Capitol is seen lit by the morning sun. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)
Hammer, who has previously run unsuccessfully for the state House and for North Dakota's Public Service Commission, brings a wide-ranging resume. He cites 25 years of military experience, including deployment to Iraq in 2003 as a weapons platoon commander. He retired in 2010 as a major in the Marine Corps Reserve. He also worked as an airline pilot, freight rail conductor and a grades 7-12 science teacher.
"I am running for Congress because it is time to put government to work for all of us. It is time to end the grandstanding and culture-war intrusions into our most personal decisions as persons, parents, and patients," Hammer said in a statement.
