Lawsuit challenges District 3 candidates
Blaine DesLauriers
Tim Mihalick
Blaine DesLauriers
Tim Mihalick
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The North Dakota Supreme Court is being asked to rule on a petition that seeks to disqualify four legislative candidates on the Nov. 3 ballot, including District 3 Republican House candidates Tim Mihalick and Blaine DesLauriers.
Citizens Alliance of North Dakota, a grassroots political group, announced Monday, Sept. 28, that it filed a formal petition with the court, challenging the placement and certification of Mihalick, DesLauriers, District 25 Republican House candidate Terry Goerger of Mantador and District 7 Republican House candidate Steven Sauter of Bismarck. The petition asks the court to disqualify their candidacies and declare the legislative seats vacant if they win in November.
Brandon Prichard, executive director for Citizens Alliance, said Secretary of State Michael Howe ignored the law in approving petitions circulated by the candidates that did not meet the requirements of the law.
According to the court filing, petitions filed by DesLauriers and Mihalick prior to the June primary failed to include full addresses of some signers. The filing states the Secretary of State's office directed DesLauriers and Mihalick to fill in omitted information on behalf of the original petition signers, and those changes were made by the candidates.
Without those signatures, DesLauriers would have had 120 valid signatures and Mihalick 110 valid signatures, both short of the 157 valid signatures required, Citizens Alliance argues.
Mihalick and DesLauriers released a joint statement saying: "The voters of D3 spoke in June - we are just focused on working hard to make sure we finish strong on November 3rd."
Prichard said the petition issues being raised by Citizens Alliance were uncovered in July as the result of a records request related to other research. However, the matter remains ripe for court consideration despite the primary election occurring in June and the nearness of the November election, he said.
Among the reasons is that pre-primary eligibility certifications remain subject to post-primary election challenges when the Secretary of State has failed to act on underlying statutory defects, he said. Citizens Alliance made the issues known to the Secretary of State on Aug. 21, which would have allowed time for the affected candidates to get new signatures to correct their petitions ahead of the deadline in state law that allows for curing of petitions until 64 days before a general election.
"Century Code allows for correction if brought to the Secretary of State's attention," Prichard said. "The Secretary of State decided it's not their duty to follow the law."
The Secretary of State's Office reported it has not been served any paperwork in the case and has no comment at this time.
Citizens Alliance also is challenging Sauter's petitions on the grounds of missing information being added to addresses.
Prichard said allowing candidates to fill in missing information outside the presence of signers was not only an error by the Secretary of State but reflects an inequity with past decisions. In October 2025, when signature gatherers seeking a District 42 special election presented petitions with missing information in address fields, the Secretary of State declared the petitions invalid, the court filing noted.
When Goerger omitted the mandatory political party designation on his circulated petitions, the Secretary of State allowed the use of his Affidavit of Candidacy, notarized after petitions were completed, to satisfy the law, Citizens Alliance stated. However, last April, legislative candidate Ann Hoggarth of Buchanan was not able to use her Affidavit of Candidacy to satisfy the lack of clarity on her petitions related to whether she was seeking a House or Senate seat.
Prichard said by ignoring legal mandates and acting inconsistently, the secretary places the four candidates in difficult circumstances.
"I didn't support any of these candidates in the primaries," he said, "but I have an ounce of sympathy for the candidates because they thought they were doing the right things. They thought they were following the law."
Petitioners in the lawsuit are District 25 GOP Chair Matt Evans and District 3 Rep. Jeff Hoverson, both of whom lost primary races in June, along with Douglas Pearson, a District 7 Republican Executive Committee member. They are represented by legal counsel Fintan Dooley of Bismarck and Erick Kaardal of Minneapolis.