Far behind his opponent in terms of money and public support, Democrat candidate for Governor of North Dakota Tim Mathern accuses his opponent John Hoeven of cronyism.

FARGO—Dem-NPL Gubernatorial Candidate Tim Mathern says consumers are paying the price for Governor Hoeven’s lack of leadership in addressing the gasoline shortages confronting cities like Fargo and Grand Forks.

“We need more pipeline to transport crude oil to refineries. We also need a much more proactive effort to build another oil refinery in North Dakota,” Mathern said.

The legislature created the ND Pipeline Authority in 2007 to oversee building the necessary infrastructure to transport crude oil to refineries. The current contracted employee at the Authority is being paid $50 per hour and is a recent college graduate. He is also the nephew of a Hoeven contributor.

“An office in name only can’t possibly get the job done,” Mathern said.

I think anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis knows that, despite his being a Republican, I am no friend of Governor John Hoeven.  But even I had to chuckle a little bit at Mathern’s rather tenuous accusation of cronyism.

The director of the North Dakota Pipeline Authority is Justin Kringstad.  His uncle, according to the Mathern campaign (who I contacted directly) is a guy named Ed Kringstad.  Also according to the Mathern campaign, the donation in question is a single $250 contribution to Hoeven made four years ago.

Who knew state appointments were so cheap?  Maybe if I contributed $500 to Hoeven I could work for the Department of Commerce in a few years.

I guess the point of all this is to show that all these state authorities Hoeven sets up are just a shell game of sorts to make it appear as though Hoeven is doing something.  And that’s not something I disagree with.  As an opponent of unnecessarily expanding the size of government I have to wonder if we even needed a pipeline authority.  If it’s such an important new part of our government, why is it being run by a kid right out of college?  Why does the Pipeline Authority have almost no funding?  If we need regulation of pipelines in North Dakota then let’s do it with an adequately funded government bureaucracy.  But if it’s not that important, why even have the Pipeline Authority?

But Mathern could have done a better job to make that point, which didn’t require a rather nonsensical accusation of cronyism that, frankly, seems rather contrived.  North Dakota is a small state.  The odds that a politician might hire or appoint someone whose relative contributed to his/her campaign is pretty good.  A $250 contribution to Hoeven four years ago hardly seems the sort of thing that would purchase an appointment to a state authority.

Update: The Hoeven campaign responds via press release to the above accusation and others from Mathern:

BISMARCK – Gov. John Hoeven’s campaign manager, Don Larson, today released this statement on Democrat Sen. Tim Mathern’s news conference:

“Sen. Tim Mathern’s negative political attacks are inaccurate and offensive. He’s once again confusing sound bite with sound policy. 

“The fact is, Hoeven targeted energy development in 2001 as part of his strategic plan and has worked with the legislature and others to build a comprehensive energy plan. North Dakota is making tremendous progress in producing all sources of energy, and people know it.

“Gov. Hoeven and the legislature are making real progress in developing North Dakota’s refining capacity, and they’re doing it the right way: by working with industry experts and the private sector. There are now four refining projects in development in North Dakota:

§ One project, the Tesoro refinery expansion in Mandan is already underway. Tesoro is making a $125 million investment and using state tax incentives to improve reliability and increase low sulfur diesel production.
§ The Oil and Gas Research Fund provided a $40,000 grant to explore a refinery near Williston; that report is due out this month.
§ The Three Affiliated Tribes is awaiting permits before moving forward on a refinery that would be located near Makoti, N.D.
§ American Lignite Energy is working with the state on an innovative project that would refine 1.38 million gallons of liquid fuel per day.

“Mathern is also wrong about North Dakota’s pipeline infrastructure. Last session, we created the Pipeline Authority to help facilitate pipeline capacity expansion. Since 2006, with the help of Gov. Hoeven’s leadership, Enbridge Pipeline has increased its capacity from 80,000 barrels a day to 110,000, and in their next phase, they will raise that to 160,000 - a 100 percent increase. In addition, the Belle Fourche Pipeline has created additional outlets, and the Butte Pipeline, currently shipping 92,000 barrels a day, will soon increase by 10,000 barrels a day, a more than 10 percent increase. We’re continuing to work on expanding pipeline capacity.

“Not only is Mathern wrong regarding the Pipeline Authority, but he’s criticizing the bipartisan Industrial Commission, which administers it and hires the director. The Authority is headed by an engineer who was first vetted by the non-partisan Oil and Gas Research Council, which is made up of industry experts, and the Industrial Commission made up of Gov. Hoeven, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem and Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson. Mathern’s attack of this particular individual is a criticism of these groups and reflects a negative attitude toward young people choosing to work in this state.