Brian Kalk Is Running For North Dakota Public Service Commissioner

Republican Brian Kalk, the retired Marine and NDSU professor who was thinking of taking on Earl Pomeroy for his House seat, is now apparently going to be running for Public Service Commissioner. He’ll be filing his paperwork tomorrow, January 2nd, and making a formal announcement on January 10th at which point he plans to make a tour of the state hitting 14 cities in 4 days.
Not sure which cities those will be, but he’ll be in Minot on January 11th at 9:00am at the Holiday Inn.
Personally, I think this is a good move for Kalk. Taking on an entrenched bureaucrat like Pomeroy, who can draw millions of dollars in contributions from out of state contributors through DC connections, for your first move into politics isn’t exactly a good move. Whoever takes on someone like Pomeroy needs to be a known quantity to the public, and have some political experience under his/her belt. The PSC is a pretty darn good place to achieve those qualifications.
The only problem is that with only one seat on the commission open after Commissioner Susan Wefald announced her retirement, and with long time Republican State Senate Majority Leader (and brother to Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem) already having announced his intention to run for that open seat, Kalk is going to be up against some formidable opposition to his candidacy from within his own party.
I hope that Kalk will be the candidate. If there’s anything the NDGOP needs at this point it’s some fresh blood and new ideas. After having lost ground in the last few elections, the NDGOP can’t afford just more of the same.