Clarice Liechty: How Dare Kevin Cramer Pay His Wife for Campaign Work

This guest post was submitted by former Jamestown Mayor Clarice Liechty.

Horrified I am!

What was Kevin Cramer, candidate for US Senate, thinking? Paying his wife for work! Goodness – she should be doing that work for the eggs and cream check. That is what Cramer’s opponent in this race and her party are implying in her campaign flyer stating that Kevin Cramer’s campaign has been a Real Cash Cow for Him and His Family.

Are we not past the days (1760’s) when a wife’s whole being or legal existence was suspended during marriage – that she was under her husband’s wing of protection and influence as he was her baron, her lord? It was not until 1991 that Republican Secretary of Agriculture, Clayton Yeutter, used his discretionary authority to grant person status to farm spouses for farm program payment purposes.

[mks_pullquote align=”left” width=”300″ size=”24″ bg_color=”#ffffff” txt_color=”#000000″]Have we not moved on to a time when a married women is valued and is paid (money) for the work she does?[/mks_pullquote]

Have we not moved on to a time when a married women is valued and is paid (money) for the work she does? Cramer is a smart man to recognize the quality work that his wife, Kris, does for the Cramer for Senate campaign. Why would or why should he hire anyone else to do the work that needs to be done in running his campaign? Kris is a valuable partner in this race as she has been in the other races. Does Heitkamp pay her campaign manager? If so, what Cash Cow is being used?

Then there is this due process of law – the presumption of innocent until proven guilty, no unequal treatment, no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, a fair hearing and a right to his defense. I watched the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings for the now Justice Brett Kavanaugh. I am happy Kavanaugh chose to stand up for his own defense in the manner he did. He not only stood up for his own defense, he stood up for all men and women who know they have been unjustly accused.

Heitkamp says she voted NO on Kavanaugh’s appointment to the United States Supreme Court because she found his performance disturbing, and based on her experience of working with a lot of domestic assault and domestic violence victims. So Kavanaugh is guilty of giving a disturbing performance and other women experiencing domestic violence. Due Process?

We need Kevin Cramer to be elected as our US Senator to serve the people of North Dakota. He is one who recognizes the value of woman’s work, and that the due process of law, the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, is very very important.

Mrs. Liechty graduated in 1983 with a BA in Business and History/Political Science from Jamestown College. She received a Master’s in Management degree from the University of Mary in 1994. Mrs. Liechty served as a director on North Dakota Natural Resources Trust Board from 1993-1996 and served one year as president. She served as a member of the North Dakota State Farm Service Agency Board from 1989 to 1993, and as a director on the North Dakota Grain Growers Association 1987-89. Mrs. Liechty was chosen, years 1987-1992, as one of twenty women nation wide to participate in the US Department of Agriculture “Women in Agriculture Workshops” as an international delegation to countries in Europe, Northern Africa, and South America. In her community she served as past president of the Jamestown Area Foundation and the Jamestown College Alumni Board. She served as mayor of the city of Jamestown June 2006 – 2010.