Podcast: Rauschenberger Says Struggle With Alcohol “Has Not Impacted My Job”
North Dakota Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger announces his campaign for the Republican Party’s nomination for North Dakota Tax Commissioner office on Wednesday, Feb.5, 2014, at the Fargo Holiday Inn. David Samson / The Forum
The audio from today’s radio show is below. If you want the audio of every show delivered directly to your device, subscribe to the podcast.
Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger joined me on air today. He’s seeking a second full term in office. He was appointed by former Governor Jack Dalrymple to the Cory Font’s uncompleted term and won election to a term of his own in 2014.
During the 2014 election cycle Rauschenberger took a hiatus from campaigning and his official duties to seek treatment for alcohol addiction. Last year Rauschenberger was arrested for DUI.
I asked him if drinking has impacted his job performance. “That’s a really good question,” he told me. “It has not impacted my job.”
It’s not something that you snap your fingers and it’s cured,” he said of his addiction. I asked him about the treatment he’s seeking, and he said he attends “after care” every week on Thursdays. He said he also does one-on-one work with a counselor and does exercises on his own to continue his recovery.
I asked him if he ever came to work hungover. “I’m not sure if I’d call it hungover,” he told me. Prior to the 2014 incident he said there were times when he’d come to work and “wasn’t feeling myself.”
Has he taken time off from work because of his drinking, outside of the hiatus to seek treatment in 2014? “There was some time in 2014 when I took some time off,” he said.
Had he drank prior to his DUI arrest last year?
“I’ve had a couple of slip ups in the past,” he said, but added that he hadn’t been “drinking regularly.”
Neither the Democrats nor the Libertarians have announced a candidate for Tax Commissioner so far.
Here’s the full audio of today’s show:
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