Trump Surrogate Ben Carson To Speak At NDGOP Convention

Yesterday Mike Nowatzki had an article suggesting that there will be two high-profile keynote speakers at the North Dakota Republican Party’s state convention next month.

Today I can report that one of those speakers will be former national candidate Ben Carson.

Carson dropped out of the national GOP’s presidential nomination race earlier this month and has since endorsed Donald Trump.

Multiple Republican sources confirmed Carson’s visit to me but would not do so on the record as they weren’t authorized to speak about the news.

“We are excited about our speakers for the convention but out of respect to our delegates and our guests I can’t comment yet,” NDGOP Chairman Kelly Armstrong told me when I contacted him. “We will have a release out as soon as we can.”

I’m told there will likely be a second “big name” speaker at the convention in addition to Carson. I’m guessing, given that North Dakota will be sending unbound delegates to what could be a very, very interesting national convention, it will be either one of the presidential candidates or a high profile surrogate.

Maybe John Kasich is coming to the state? Or maybe it’s Ted Cruz.

My bet is the latter, given that Cruz is clearly focusing on the state. His father, Rafael Cruz, will be hitting Fargo Valley City, Jamestown, and Bismarck next week.

Former state lawmaker Bette Grande is one of the organizers behind the visit and sent me the flyers for the events which you can see below.

Whoever the second speaker is, this is a real coup for Republicans. There’s already an enthusiasm gap between Republicans and Democrats in the state that’s about as wide as the Grand Canyon. This will widen it.

Because the keynotes for the North Dakota Democrats? U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand from New York and Montana Superintendent Denise Juneau.

Yawn.

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