NDGOP Facebook Names Goehring Ag Commission Winner Before Delegates Vote

While sitting in the back of the convention hall at the NDGOP convention listening to the endorsing speeches for the Agriculture Commissioner race, and enjoying the floor demonstrations, I began getting text messages from delegates on the floor pointing out that on the NDGOP Facebook page the winner had already been named.

Here’s a link to the post.

A screen shot is above, in case it gets taken down.

“Can we at least vote before they name the winner?” one pro-Estenson delegate asked me. He acknowledged that Goehring was likely to win, but was upset that the Facebook posting was evidence that the party was less than interested in a competitive race for the seat.

Aside from the ill-advised Facebook posting, the process has seemed fair to me. Both candidates have been well represented at the convention, and seem to have worked hard to make their case to delegates. These intraparty battles are always emotional, and gaffes like this one on Facebook can upset a lot of people.

Update: A member of the NDGOP leadership texted to say the Facebook posting was an “amateur mistake.” And to be fair, they used the same language for Estenson.