WILLISTON — District 23 Republicans have announced legislative endorsements for Todd Beard for state Senate, and Scott Dyk and Nico Rios for state House. All three candidates were endorsed via a unanimous vote by local party members at the district convention held April 5 in Williston.

Beard grew up on a cattle farm in Moffit, moved to Williston in 1991 and started in the oilfield doing wireline jobs. He has been working in oilfield safety for 21 years.

Dyk is from Platte and owned and operated a family dairy farm in South Dakota for 20 years. Since moving to North Dakota, he has owned a gravel and concrete business, serving the oil field for eight years.

Rios was born and raised in the south side of Chicago but moved to North Dakota eight years ago to pursue a career in the oil industry. Prior to coming to North Dakota he worked in the D.C. office for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. He currently works as a wireline operator in Williston.

District 23 is the newly-formed legislative district from the legislative redistricting process, which took place after completion of the 2020 US Census. The district captures the fast-growing portions of north and west Williston, as well as rural areas around Hardscrabble, Trenton and Buford.