In ‘Democrat country,’ Republicans recruit 2 tribal members for House seats

District 9 includes 2 reservations after tribes win in court

Two tribal members will run as Republicans for the North Dakota House of Representatives from District 9, where a judge ordered that district lines be changed to give Native Americans a fair chance at representation. 

David “Doc” Brien, a former chair of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, and Robert Graywater, a member of the Spirit Lake Nation, were endorsed at the District 9 Republican convention Saturday in Cando. 

“I feel that this is a sea change for the Republican Party in North Dakota, that Native issues might come to the forefront with our participation,” Brien said.

District 9 now includes both the Turtle Mountain and Spirit Lake reservations after the two tribes successfully sued the state under the federal Voting Rights Act. 

Areas with large Native American populations have tended to lean toward the Democratic Party in North Dakota, where Republicans dominate the Legislature and statewide offices. 

“This is Democrat country here,” Graywater said of Spirit Lake. But he said being a Christian is important to him. “The platform of the Republican Party fits my faith.” 

Finding Republican candidates in a district with the two reservations was “certainly no easy feat,” said state Sen. Judy Estenson, R-Warwick. Estenson is a non-tribal member who lives on the Spirit Lake Reservation. Estenson said she is also serving as the district chair, at least temporarily. 

“I feel a little bit like a one-man band,” she said. 

Brien, who lives between Belcourt and Rolla, said he identifies with the Republican Party on “lower taxes, more personal responsibility.” 

He said would like to see North Dakota lower or eliminate gas taxes or other sales taxes that disproportionately affect poor people. He said he has worked on tribal issues throughout his life, and was recently in Washington, D.C., lobbying on behalf of tribal colleges. 

Graywater lives near St. Michael and is director of the Spirit Lake Fish and Wildlife Department and leads the tribe’s bison herd project. 

He said he and his wife raised four children of their own, adopted two others and also foster children. 

“The breakdown of the family is a root issue,” he said. 

The District 9 Democrats are scheduled to have their convention Sunday. Rep. Jayme Davis, a Turtle Mountain member, has announced that she will run for the Senate seat, giving up her seat in the House. 

After ruling in favor of the tribes in the Voting Rights Act lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Peter Welte ordered the North Dakota Secretary of State to change the district map adopted by the Legislature in 2021. 

Welte’s order also forced an election of legislators in District 9 and in District 15 even though those districts held elections in 2022. Those seats will be part of the 2024 election along with North Dakota’s even-numbered legislative districts. 

The court-ordered map shuffled some legislators, including Estenson, to a different district for the 2024 election. 

An appeal of Welte’s ruling is still pending with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Secretary of State’s Office has said any ruling in the appeal would not affect the 2024 election. 

But Estenson said she still thinks a reversal could – and should – undo the Welte’s order and the redistricting, reverting back to the lines drawn in 2021 and leaving districts 9 and 15 off the November ballot. 

“It was an extremely erroneous decision,” Estenson said. 

Estenson said she thinks the tribes had the opportunity to elect candidates in 2022. 

“It’s false to say they could not,” she said.  

But she said she is proud to be running alongside Brien and Graywater. 

“They are really wonderful men who care about their people,” she said. “They are running for all the right reasons.”