Duane Sand considering U.S. House run

Former Republican candidate Duane Sand is eyeing a 2012 run to be North Dakota’s lone member of the U.S. House — not the federal office he was seeking when he formed a U.S. Senate campaign committee earlier this year.

In a Tuesday e-mail to supporters, Sand said he had recently talked with Rep. Rick Berg, R-N.D., and Public Service Commissioner Brian Kalk, the two declared contenders seeking the Republican endorsement to run in 2012 for retiring Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad’s spot on the U.S. Senate.

Because of those conversations, Sand wrote, “I believe it may be best to begin the process of exploring the open House seat.”

Sand told the Grand Forks Herald he’s still weighing his options and won’t be ready to make an announcement on a possible House bid for several weeks. He first needs to consult with family and supporters and gauge the level of financial support he could expect if he switches races, he said.

“It takes a long time,” he said. “This is a big ship, and it takes a while to get it turned onto a different course. There are many moving parts.”

‘The right direction’

Sand, a former lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy who served on three nuclear submarines, said in his e-mail that he thinks it’s important to have more veterans in Congress. That could happen if Kalk, a Marine veteran, is elected to the Senate, he said.

“With Brian solidly in the Senate race, I am encouraged at the prospects that at least one of the two seats up this cycle may be a way for North Dakota to have a veteran representative in D.C.,” he wrote.

The 45-year-old Bismarck resident formed a 2012 Senate campaign committee earlier this year. Sand could file paperwork to switch it to a House committee, which would allow him to use the $150,000 or so he said he’s already raised for a Senate bid.

He told the Herald he had already made up his mind to seek the GOP endorsement for the Senate. But he reconsidered after Berg and Kalk officially got into the Senate race over the past few weeks.

Berg announced Monday that he will campaign for the Senate and is now on a three-day, 11-city tour of speaking appearances across North Dakota. Kalk declared his aspirations last month and was the first to prepare for a Senate bid, forming an exploratory committee just before Conrad’s January announcement that he wouldn’t seek re-election.

“After talking with Rick, it seems like this would be the right decision,” Sand said about a bid for the U.S. House.

He’s campaigned for federal office several times since 2000, unsuccessfully challenging Conrad in 2000 and former Democratic Rep. Earl Pomeroy in 2004 and 2008.

But Sand said he still needs to consider his options and test the political waters before he’ll make a final decision about a 2012 campaign for the House.

“This can’t happen in a day. But it does appear it’s the right direction to go.”

Ryan Johnson is a reporter at the Grand Forks Herald,

which is owned by Forum Communications Co.

Tags: news, politics, sand, congress