Former Democratic Congressional candidate Trygve Hammer is holding a town hall in Minot this week.
Republican Representative Julie Fedorchak and Hammer both ran for North Dakota’s lone seat in Congress last year, after Kelly Armstrong left to run for Governor. Since winning her congressional race, Fedorchak has since held four virtual town halls, where participants would register online and submit questions ahead of time. Despite holding no office at the moment, Hammer says he thinks face to face conversations are important – so he’s inviting the public to join him.
"What we really want to do is get that interaction going. There's a big difference between being in a crowd where someone in that audience might have expertise or personal experience in an issue or field that you're talking about. It might be a rural hospital administrator, or somebody who specializes in opioid use disorder - something like that. Somebody who may be able to fill in gaps for you, or ask you a better question or bring you data you maybe haven't considered. If everybody's waiting on the phone, that person doesn't get a chance to stand up and ask that question. So it's a whole different dynamic, and really, it's what people want."
Hammer says he and former Democratic Senate candidate Katrina Christiansen have both been receiving requests for in person town halls. He says he did have an in-person town hall recently in Bismarck, and hopes this next one will be attended by more participants.
Hammer says all topics could be on the table, including the President’s budget bill and rescissions package, as well as the Epstein scandal. He also says he may run for federal office again.
The town hall will take place at 7pm, Thursday, July 31 at the Carnegie Center in Minot.