Former state senator Tom Campbell drops bid for North Dakota’s single U.S. House seat

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — One of several Republican candidates jostling for North Dakota’s only U.S. House seat has ended his campaign.

Former state Sen. Tom Campbell, a potato farmer from Grafton, announced on Tuesday he is withdrawing from the race.

“I feel it would be a better use of my time to avoid a negative campaign, ignoring any threats and focus on the positive, where I can contribute to the well-being of others,” Campbell posted to Facebook. “At a time where there seems to be too much division and anger, I believe I can make more of a difference taking a different path rather than as 1 in 435 in Congress.”

Several candidates are running to succeed Republican Rep. Kelly Armstrong, who first won the seat in 2018 and is now running for governor.

Campbell initially eyed the governor’s race, then switched to the House race. In 2018, he initially ran for U.S. Senate, but later switched to the House race and ultimately withdrew.

Other Republican candidates for the House seat include former state Rep. Rick Becker, Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak and Alex Balazs, a military veteran and former U.S. State Department employee.

Democrat and military veteran Trygve Hammer also is running. Republicans have held the seat since 2011.

Campbell’s exit comes less than two weeks before the North Dakota Republican Party’s state convention in Fargo, where delegates will endorse candidates for statewide and congressional races.

But some candidates in the open gubernatorial and congressional races have said they’re taking their campaigns to the Republican primary election in June, when voters will decide the nominees for November.