She saved a coal plant and thousands of jobs, and then she was denied her party’s endorsement
MINOT, N.D. — I don’t believe it’s an exaggeration to say that without Sen. Jessica Bell of Beulah, who has represented District 33 since 2013, Coal Creek Station would be on its way to closing.
A lot of political leaders, from the local level up to our congressional delegation, deserve credit for that outcome, but Sen. Bell was a key player, from her work on tax and policy bills in the Legislature to her behind-the-scenes coordination and organizing.
Had North Dakota’s largest coal-fired power plant closed, thousands of jobs in central North Dakota, where Bell resides in her district, would have been lost. Schools would have closed. Businesses would have been boarded up. Entire communities would have shriveled and died.
Bell’s work helped keep that sorry outcome at bay.
Yet at the NDGOP’s District 33 convention Wednesday night, Feb. 16, Bell was denied endorsement for another term in office
