North Dakota candidate for U.S. House of Representatives files lawsuit over misleading text messages during primary election

BISMARCK, N.D. — The attorney for the winner of the Republican primary for North Dakota’s only House seat has filed complaints with federal authorities over text messages falsely indicating she had dropped out of the primary race GOP storms on election day June 11. His lawyer said the messages could serve as a test for a broader effort this fall.

Julie Fedorchak, a longtime utility regulator, was the subject of the messages. Attorney Shane Goettle said Tuesday that he recently filed complaints on behalf of his campaign with the Federal Election Commission and the Federal Communications Commission and alerted the U.S. attorney’s office. He alleged election interference and fraudulent use of text messages to mislead voters.

The messages presented Fedorchak’s removal by distorting media headlines and an interview segment, Goettle said. Fedorchak withdrew from a controversial endorsement process at the April convention, but she continued in the five-way race and won.

Thousands of North Dakotans across the state appear to have received misleading messages, Goettle said.

The nature of the race in North Dakota — five candidates in a low-population state — could have presented a smaller market to test messages before a larger effort, he said.

“I think whoever is behind this is probably testing it in a primary election and may well use it as a tool to disrupt elections across the country if successful,” Goettle said.

He said the campaign had no specific information about who was behind the messages, but had worked to identify some phone numbers involved, all with North Dakota’s 701 area code.

He declined to share the complaints, saying the campaign did not want to release names when it was unclear whether those people or entities still held the numbers.

Fedorchak’s Republican opponents have denied any involvement. The state’s Democratic-NPL party denounced the posts and others like them urging Democrats to vote for former state Rep. Rick Becker, who is running in the GOP House primary.