Kalk to run for Senate, state GOP backs Berg

BISMARCK, N.D. — As Public Service Commissioner Brian Kalk prepared to begin his U.S. Senate campaign Wednesday, his two Republican colleagues on the commission said they are supporting freshman U.S. Rep. Rick Berg, R-N.D., as their favored candidate next year.

“It’s not intended as anything against Brian, and certainly not as a slap,” said the commission’s chairman, Tony Clark. “I would say the same thing about myself in comparison to Rick.”

Kalk scheduled a news conference in Fargo Wednesday night to begin his campaign for the Republican endorsement to run for the Senate. He is making campaign appearances in 20 cities through Sunday.

Clark and Kevin Cramer, both of whom are former chairmen of the North Dakota Republican Party, are among more than 80 signers of a letter urging Berg to seek the seat being vacated next year by incumbent Democrat Kent Conrad.

The roster includes most GOP members of the North Dakota Legislature, where Berg formerly served as the Republican state House majority leader. It was circulated by Rep. RaeAnn Kelsch, R-Mandan, the chairwoman of the North Dakota House’s Education Committee.

“To the degree that anybody is entitled to anything in politics, Rick Berg has certainly earned the right of first refusal,” Cramer said. “That’s not to say Brian Kalk is a bad candidate. He’s a fine candidate ... but I think Rick Berg has positioned himself to be a better candidate.”

Berg, 51, defeated Cramer last year for the Republican endorsement to run for the U.S. House. He went on to defeat incumbent Democrat Earl Pomeroy, who had been in the House for 18 years.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Berg said he was considering the race, while disagreeing with speculation that he is likely to run.

“Obviously, my intention was not to run for the Senate when I ran for the House,” Berg said. “The situation changed, obviously, when Sen. Conrad decided not to run for re-election. The dynamics are different than they were in November, or even in early January.”

Kalk, 45, established a committee in January to explore a U.S. Senate bid shortly before Conrad, who was first elected to the Senate in 1986, announced he would not be running for another term.

Kalk said he had expected competition for the Republican endorsement to run for the Senate. The decisions of Cramer and Clark to support Berg do not affect his own plans, he said.

Kalk has been a public service commissioner since 2008, when he was elected to his first six-year term. The commission regulates utilities, coal mining, grain elevators, land reclamation and auctioneers, and determines the sites of pipelines and wind energy projects.

A native of Bottineau, Kalk is a retired Marine and former professor at North Dakota State University, where he taught political science, logistics and natural resource management. Kalk has a doctorate in natural resource management from NDSU.

Fargo state Sen. Tony Grindberg, a vice chairman of the North Dakota Senate’s Appropriations Committee, is also mulling a bid for the GOP Senate endorsement. Grindberg said he was not approached to sign the letter urging Berg to run, but that he probably would not have done so had he been asked.

“Rick’s a friend. If Rick decides to run, that’s great,” Grindberg said. “The more, the merrier.”

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