Bismarck, ND – Every legislative session sees the return of incumbent legislators along with a handful of newcomers. The 68th Legislative Session started earlier this month with a higher than usual number of freshman lawmakers.
There are 24 new faces in the House of Representatives, including Rep. Dawson Holle, R-Mandan, a student at the University of Mary in Bismarck and a dairy rancher. At 18, he may be the youngest North Dakotan ever to serve in the legislature.
Holle never saw himself as someone who would run for office, but he started getting interested in politics four years ago. He was prompted to run for office because of the dairy industry.
He and his family own one of the 41 remaining dairy farms in North Dakota. The state loses one or two daily farms a year, which Holle attributes to bad agriculture policies.
“I couldn’t sit by and watch the dairy industry perish anymore. The best way to help the industry grow was to run for legislature,” he said.
Holle said his first major challenge was facing an incumbent in the primary election. Incumbent Jim Schmidt, R-Mandan, had served in the legislature since 2011. Holle had to convince voters to overlook his age and instead focus on the policy he wanted to introduce.
“I wanted to offer District 31 something new and fresh,” Holle said.
Holle spent a lot of his campaign going door to door and meeting people. Part of this was because Holle ran a petition campaign which required him to gather enough signatures to be accepted onto the ballot. This method also gave him the opportunity to connect with voters on a level he feels most politicians today fail to accomplish.
“I think that is a connection a lot of politicians have lost, is they think that they are higher than people, and they think that the people serve the lawmaker,” he said. “But it is the lawmaker that serves the people.”
Another challenge Holle faced was campaigning in a large area. District 31 covers four counties in south-central North Dakota, including the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Holle recognizes that people living on the reservations are often overlooked in state politics.
“When I was running, I would go down to the reservation and I would knock on their doors and they [would say], ‘This is the first time I have ever heard of a representative coming to this town,’” he said.
Holle is starting his tenure in the legislature months after a term limits measure was approved by voters during the November midterm elections. He hasn’t made any future political decisions citing his young age, but he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of running for a higher office in the future. Holle can see himself running for the House of Representatives again depending on how successful his bills are.
“No one should be a career politician because there are so many different people that bring different aspects into North Dakota,” he said.
Holle has been spending much of his time so far in the Capitol by observing those around him. He has spent time researching for his committee assignments, which he said were in areas he doesn’t hold much previous experience in.
Part of the learning curve has also been listening. Holle has sought advice from his colleagues, especially his running mate Rep. Karen Kohr, R-Mandan, who has been in the legislature since 2011. Holle said that it is important to foster connections with other lawmakers.
(provided by NDNA)
