U.S. House candidate Zachary Raknerud believes he has a message that will resonate with middle-class, working families in next November’s election.

“A lot of it has to do with co-opting, honestly, similar messages to President Trump when he was a candidate,” Raknerud said. “He really talked about how the federal government has left the working man behind.”

The Minot Democrat has developed a platform to appeal to that same voter, but with a set of policies that he describes as more progressive than Trump’s Republican Party is offering.

“I felt that these policy positions deserve their voice,” Raknerud said. “These progressive policies are ones that the Dem-NPL members are extremely in favor of, and they haven’t had a chance to advocate and back those policies yet at the statewide ballot so I’m excited to bring that forward.

“I do feel that these policies resonate with working people as a whole, North Dakota has a very populist bent to it,” he added. “They just need the right policy – to feel that the person has their best interests in mind.”

Raknerud, who works in retail management, spent his early years in Grand Forks before moving with his family to Northwood. He earned a communications degree from the University of North Dakota and came to Minot in 2016. Two years ago he ran unsuccessfully for the N.D. House in Minot’s District 5. Now living in Minot’s District 40, he remains active in Democratic-NPL Party on the local level.

He is seeking his party’s endorsement for the seat held by North Dakota Republican Congressman Kelly Armstrong. He is the only announced candidate for the endorsement, which will be given at the Democratic-NPL convention in Minot March 19-21.

“A big part of Congressman Armstrong message right now is that the economy is wonderful and that things are great, and I’m going to be very clear that that’s not the case,” Raknerud said. Many Americans are in low-quality jobs, living paycheck to paycheck with little or no health care access, he said.

Among his policy goals for the middle class are expanding Medicare to cover all Americans, legalizing and taxing adult marijuana use, lifting the cap on income taxed for Social Security to bolster the program, funding infrastructure, publicly financing elections and offering paid family leave, more public options for affordable child care and free tuition at public colleges and trade schools.

Raknerud said addressing health care is critical.

“We’re spending twice as much per capita as every single one of our 32 peer nations, and that is money that should be staying in the pockets of working families,” he said.

More than 15% of business costs are health care costs, he said. The cost savings for families and businesses under a universal health care system and a single risk pool for all citizens would be significant, he said

“Half a million Americans every single year are going bankrupt, in part because of medical costs, and 32,000 to 45,000 Americans are estimated to die every single year because when they get sick or have a condition arise, they can’t afford to see the doctor, either they don’t have insurance or their deductible is too high,” he said. “That shouldn’t be happening in the wealthiest nation in history. We need to take care of our people and ensure that everybody has access to affordable health care.”

He also advocates for change to the way the country has dealt with rising addiction and drug issues.

“We need to reform how we approach these things and realize that we can empower our communities, give good paying jobs to people who are passionate about helping addicts in their time of need. But right now, putting the criminal justice first and foremost is not working and we need to rethink it,” he said.

One of the issues he feels most strongly about is reforming an election system he says is focused on large campaign contributors and special interests and restoring the focus to working people. In promoting that message, he said he will accept only individual contributions.

“We would likely be at a financial disadvantage. But the credence that comes with not accepting this corrupting money really can’t be measured,” Raknerud said. “I’m confident there are working families all over that will contribute small amounts, and I think that will be able to get a good enough structure to compete.”

One strategy will be to take advantage of media opportunities. In addition to attempting to reach the masses through his website, ZachForND.com, and social media, he is not avoiding ideologically different media as the party has done in the past, he said. His recent appearance on the talk show of conservative blogger Rob Port of Minot is an example.

Raknerud said he’s not afraid to share his policies in a Republican-leaning state.

“So many people shy away, and they try to be GOP light around here, thinking that will pull away folks from the GOP, and I don’t think that’s how you do it. I think you stick to your values. You stick to your convictions and you go with it. With policy like this that puts working people first, I’m confident that there are folks out there who would normally be a GOP voter that would be willing to cross over.”

Raknerud is encouraging residents interested in serving as delegates to the state Democratic-NPL convention to contact their district chairs as identified on the state party website. The four Minot-area districts have plenty of openings yet in the 42 delegate slots to be filled.

Candidates who have announced:

U.S. House

Congressman Kelly Armstrong, incumbent, Republican

Zachary Raknerud, Minot, Democrat

Governor

Gov. Doug Burgum, incumbent, Republican

Michael Coachman, Larimore, Republican

Shelley Lenz, Dickinson, Democrat

DuWayne Hendrickson, Minot, Libertarian

Treasurer

Rep. Thomas Beadle, Fargo, Republican

Rep. Daniel Johnston, Kathryn, Republican

Auditor

Josh Gallion, incumbent, Republican

Insurance

Jon Godfread, incumbent, Republican

Superintendent of Public Instruction (Nonpartisan)

Kirsten Baesler, incumbent, Republican

Charles Tuttle, Minot, Republican