Port: North Dakota’s two largest farm groups set aside differences to oppose term limits
MINOT, N.D. — The North Dakota Farm Bureau and the North Dakota Farmer’s Union are like the Republican and Democratic parties of agriculture. They often share many of the same goals, but as often they differ sharply on how to get there.
But the two groups are in agreement on one thing this election cycle: North Dakota doesn’t need term limits.
“We felt it important to voice together our concerns about this measure,” said North Dakota Farmers Union President Mark Watne in a statement his group released jointly with the NDFB. “At Farmers Union, we have longstanding policy that opposes term limits because they are a limitation on the rights of citizens to choose and elect their public officials. Term limits also put more power into the hands of professional lobbyists and career bureaucrats.”
“Limiting state legislative terms would result in terrible consequences for the rural citizens and communities of North Dakota,” Daryl Lies, NDFB president, said in the same release. “Why should we be forced to get rid of the very people who are good for North Dakota? As voters, we should have the right to vote for leaders of our choice.”
