FARGO (North Dakota Monitor) – Democrats in a south Fargo legislative district have endorsed a candidate for a North Dakota House seat that had been held by Liz Conmy, who died in a plane crash in April.
However, the candidate, Cara Cody-Braun, will not appear as a Democrat on the November general election ballot.
Cody-Braun intends to collect signatures to run as an independent candidate, according to a news release from the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party. She will campaign with the other Democratic-NPL candidates in District 11 — Sen. Tim Mathern and House candidate Anastassiya Andrianova.
After Conmy died in a plane crash in Minnesota on April 25, North Dakota Secretary of State Michael Howe said it was too late to take her name off the ballot for the June primary.
Andrianova and Conmy received the most votes in the uncontested Democratic primary, but Howe said North Dakota’s election laws prevented Conmy’s name from advancing to the general election ballot. He said state law also prevents the party from naming a replacement for Conmy on the November ballot.
Howe advised the District 11 Democrats that they could campaign for a write-in candidate in the June primary. If the write-in candidate had received enough votes, their name would have appeared on the general election ballot as a Democrat.
The party chose not to back a write-in candidate, however. That led to Thursday’s announcement of backing Cody-Braun as an independent candidate.
Cody-Braun, originally from Mandan, is a recently retired teacher.
“I want to represent the needs of my Fargo neighbors and advocate for working families all across our great state,” Cody-Braun said in the news release.
At the candidate filing deadline for the primary, there were no Republican House candidates. But Republican Doug Sharbono received enough write-in votes to appear on the November ballot.
Christine O’Riley is running as a Republican for the Senate seat held by Mathern.
There is still time for other independent candidates to join the race in District 11 and elsewhere in the state. People have until Aug. 31 to file paperwork with the Secretary of State’s Office to be on the Nov. 3 ballot.
District 11 is one of the few legislative districts in North Dakota represented by Democrats. North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party Chair Adam Goldwyn is serving the final months of Conmy’s term but is not a candidate for her seat.
North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party leaders also have requested an attorney’s general’s opinion on the situation. Attorney General Drew Wrigley said his office would research whether it had the authority to issue such an opinion.
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