I am a strong and principled advocate for conservative values.

Life

I am unapologetically prolife. From the very founding of this great nation, the words of Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”, has been embedded in the fabric of our nation and times cannot change that truth.

Life is the fundamental issue, without it liberty and pursuit of happiness is naught. And it is noteworthy that these rights are not granted by government, but are to be protected by the government, something we have failed to do for 43 years.

I will not change my position on life, nor will I ever shy from an open discussion on this issue or supporting alternatives to abortion, or working hard to make abortion unthinkable in our state and nation. I have been blessed to participate on behalf of the unborn child and its mother.

Religious Liberty

I am a devout advocate of the First Amendment. We cannot and must not allow any weakening of our God given rights to freedom of religion and freedom of speech and assembly, no matter how the attacks on such may be clothed. And as we all know, they come clothed like freedom and justice and political correctness these days.

I will always err on the side of liberty.

I was asked recently if I would be “neutral” as a State Senator, not allowing my Judeo-Christian faith to “influence” my votes. My answer to that question would be two fold:

First of all, I do not think the God of our Christian Faith and Bible has or ever will be neutral in the affairs of man. My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ never was.

Secondly, I think if we do not accept the historical fact that our Judeo-Christian values are one of the reasons why America and North Dakota are such great free places to live, then we have failed to honor the founding of our nation and state.

My faith influences how I live, and of course it will influence the way I vote.

Economy

A pressing issue facing North Dakota today and for the foreseeable future is the economy. We have been exceedingly blessed with a long season of prosperity, leading the nation with vast surpluses, a constitutional balanced budget and record low unemployment. In such a season of prosperity, we do what is historically normal to do; we grow government. Face it, it’s human nature and we have all actually done it in our personal lives, right? It seems easy to blame former or current governors and legislators, yet that is not leadership.

Leadership is knowing when to tighten your belt, how to safeguard the future and yet responsibly provide for current needs.

Economics can seem extremely complicated and at times they are, but economy 101 is practiced daily around kitchen tables and with the right conservative principles and honest leadership, we can all weather the hard times.

I have worked in the nonprofit organizational world for over 30 years, sitting on national Board of Directors for some of the largest nonprofit organizations, and thereby having had the responsibility of handling large budgets and monies carefully as such monies were given us by donors. Government is not much different, though the sums are vastly bigger. Taxpayers fund the government; all the government does is administrate said funds in the service of the people. We do have an obligation to work with each other to fund the services needed for our districts and state to thrive, and of course people at times disagree on where each dollar will be spent.

The discussions in Bismarck are usually quite lively during the appropriations decisions. Faced with budget shortfalls of large proportions it will no doubt require sacrifice. During times of severe downtrend as we are currently seeing in the energy sector as well as a possibly longer negative trend in the Agriculture Sector (Ag commodity experts I have spoken to say 3-7 years likely), we will need to have leadership in Bismarck who are willing to make some hard choices regardless of popularity or name calling. That is what true leadership is about.

I have a proven record, though from the healthy outside position of a citizen, of pushing through legislation, at times through very difficult circumstances and will do so again to protect the future of our children and grandchildren.

We don’t like it, but we can weather the storms coming. After all we are still incredibly blessed here in District 10 and throughout North Dakota, even during an economic downtrend. What we all must do is to rise above the current tide of dissatisfaction and make principled decisions to protect and preserve quality of life in North Dakota!

If elected State Senator I will not give in to special interest groups, whether local or not, to serve the purpose of being re-elected or otherwise. The money spent in Bismarck is your money.

It is hard to predict what the future holds for our economy, and how in detail it will affect our local communities. Anyone who is running for public office on any level and tells you they “know it all” on all of these difficult equations of the economy is not being truthful. I certainly do not know it all on a wide variety of issues we may face in this arena, but that is I where I will depend on the expertise of residents in our district to educate, inform and debate as we move forward. The economy, even here in district 10, will be effected by world events, and very much so by who we elect to be the next President of nation. The domino effect of world economics is difficult, at the very least, to predict.

I assure you I will look out for our district, for our kids, our families, our Ag producers and our businesses. And I will do my utmost, along with what is hopefully an assembly of collective intelligence from Senators representing 46 other Districts, to protect and provide for our current needs while safeguarding the future.

After all, I live here, and nothing motivates me more than being a mom and working for my kids’ future!

Education

We should not shackle the education of our children to the minute funding we receive from federal government. The best government is local government and when it comes to education, parents are and should be the doorkeepers for their child’s education. Parents have a right to choose their child’s education; whether it be public, private or homeschooling.

I know the highest percentage of our students will be educated in public schools, and I have a passion to work to make it the best it can be for every student in our district and across our state. Expert academic instruction is critical and the reason I strongly support professional development opportunities for teachers as part of the strategy to ensure excellence in our schools.

The mission of every school in our state can be accomplished when decision making power is closest to the local school level. It is there that administrators and teachers can ensure students are engaged in an educational climate where parents are involved, their concerns are heard and students’ academic needs are most easily met. When decision making power is at the local level, teachers will once again be able to focus instruction time on the needs of their students rather than the current skewed focus driven by federally mandated Common Core State Standards and SBAC achievement testing.

School boards and administrators need to be the driving force that empowers the current environment in which the curriculum and instruction time is geared for “teaching to the test”.

We are seeing concerns of the teacher shortage as well, and granted there is some, but after observing the discussions in our local schools and hearing from parents across our region I have wondered why we do not see teaching for the high and honored vocation it should be. I firmly believe teaching is and should be an honored vocation, a higher calling if you will, yet we shackle our professional educators with federal overreach.

As an educated society we also cannot neglect the tremendous importance of instruction in ethics and morals in our children. Character development matters and is marked by honesty, self-control, decency, respect, and compassion.

We need common sense and local control, not Common Core!

I will support all efforts to remove the Smarter Balance Consortium, which administers the Common Core Standardized tests, as this is simply a rewrite of old federal policies that do not work.

As your State Senator, I will be committed to the importance of education and will strongly support reform that brings decision making power back to the local level.

Agriculture

Agriculture is still the largest industry in North Dakota; one of the few industries in our economy where the US exports more than it imports. Agriculture is a critical part of our national security and energy policies.

America, with North Dakota farmers leading the way, has been growing its own and thereby not having to rely on foreign nations for our food source.   We must continue to hold policies that protect our Ag producers; allowing them to produce the safest and best products in the world without the overreaching heavy hand of the federal government hindering growth and prosperity.

The recent fight against the EPA wanting to regulate our lands by controlling “puddles of water” (Waters of the US Act), shows this fight is ongoing and serious.   We must use our 10th Amendment Right when protecting landownership and state’s resources.

North Dakota’s producers can and should continue to lead the way in America, assuring consistent and innovative food production, allowing economic stabilization and simultaneously having global impact on national security.

Ronald Reagan said, “This country is nothing without the farmer, and those who work the land have the right to know that there is a future in farming. Their children have the right to know that they’ll still be able to work the family farm generations from now and make a decent living.”

I will do my utmost to build on this legacy.   After all, like many of you, I have children who want to farm and the legislative choices we make today will affect their future greatly.