In early September, we reported that Charles Tuttle – a former NDGOP candidate for U.S. House – had filed his paperwork to run as an Independent for the same office. You may recall that Tuttle had thrown his hat in the ring for the NDGOP endorsement back in April at the party’s state convention. While Tuttle was a darling of sorts with a pretty good convention speech, the NDGOP’s endorsement ultimately went to State Senator Kelly Armstrong, who later went on to win the June primary for the official nomination.
The other candidate in the race seeking to succeed Congressman Kevin Cramer is Democrat Mac Schneider. There’s little question that Armstrong and Schneider chew up the majority of news coverage for their race. Not that they’re necessarily well known throughout the state, but they’re the major party candidates— and in politics that matters.
Yet, Tuttle is traveling the state and making an effort to raise his profile with North Dakota voters, despite limited campaign resources in comparison to his major party opponents. A recent example of this was a sit-down interview with Prairie Public’s Matt Olien. Because Tuttle was not invited to an earlier debate with Armstrong and Schneider, and Prairie Public has an equal time policy, Tuttle was extended the invitation to discuss issues important to him in his campaign.
I have to admit that Tuttle was fairly impressive. He comes across as well-spoken, knowledgeable, and is unquestionably a huge supporter of President Donald Trump. In fact, one of his hang-ups with Kelly Armstrong as the Republican nominee is that Tuttle doesn’t feel Armstrong has been a strong enough supporter of the president. He doesn’t let Schneider off the hook either.
Undoubtedly, Tuttle has an uphill battle in order to secure enough votes to win the three-way race. Not only is name recognition an issue for him, but – unfortunately – politics is money. And Armstrong and Schneider simply have a lot more of it at their disposal. Toss in allegations of sexual misconduct that Tuttle describes as “hurtful” and untrue, together with the fact that some voters would see voting for him as giving Mac Schneider more of a chance at victory, and things may be pretty tough for the underdog.
Regardless, I encourage you to at least take a look at the interview and see what you think. There’s a broad range of issues discussed such as immigration, the wall, tax cuts, the President, Brett Kavanaugh, and the list goes on.
Sources:
- https://theminutemanblog.com/2018/09/06/tuttle-submits-signatures-to-enter-u-s-house-race-as-independent/
- https://www.armstrongnd.com/
- http://mac4northdakota.com/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHEQ3K-upFw
