VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The following is a statement from District 24 Recall Petition Committee chairman Shane Anderson responding to state Republican leaders who slammed the petition recall effort against Rep. Dwight Kiefert.

Anderson said, “Misguided and anti-democratic? That’s what GOP leaders Pollert and Bosch have called fellow Republicans in District 24 concerning their efforts to recall Rep. Dwight Kiefert. They could not be more wrong. A decision of this magnitude deserves respect and should be a wake up call to the GOP leadership in North Dakota. The process leading up to the filing of the recall petition came about after long discussions and vigorous debate concerning Rep. Kiefert’s voting record, and his own statement to a long time supporter after many on-line discussions simply stating “…start a petition.” So, with Rep. Kiefert’s approval, a committee was formed and the petition process has begun. Many District 24 GOP Committee members and other constituents in the District, have found him to be combative and rude when requesting information and details about his voting record on various issues important to them. That’s his job – to answer questions and to be accountable to the people who supported him – whether they voted for him or not. It is the responsibility of the citizenry to hold their elected officials accountable and to question them. On many occasions, when speaking with his constituents, Rep. Kiefert simply cannot explain why he voted the way he did. He tells voters to watch the floor debates. Many find him arrogant and dismissive when he is questioned. Rep. Kiefert has failed to attend District 24 GOP events, which is an insult to the very people who nominated him, worked and voted for him. Rep. Keifert, and all elected officials are employees of the people – they work for the citizenry. And as such, must be held accountable for their actions and their voting record by those who have employed them. As employers who voted, supported and worked for Rep. Kiefert, the District 24 citizenry has the responsibility to take action and are moving forward, as suggested by Rep. Kiefert himself. And by the way, obtaining the required signatures is going quite well.”

The following is a response by Rep. Dwight Kiefert.

Kiefert said, “Here is a list of the important bills from the last session. You can see I voted with them 97.9% of the time. The reason it’s not 100% is because I missed two votes. I’d like to know which bills they are talking about?

I received the Chamber Champion award for my voting record during the 2021 legislative session:

Representative Kiefert, On behalf of the Greater North Dakota Chamber, I want to thank you for your support of the business community during the 67th Legislative Assembly. With your voting record, you have earned the distinction of Chamber Champion!

Your work during this legislative session positioned North Dakota’s businesses to be nationally and globally competitive. Your voting record proved to limit unnecessary regulation and government overreach while supporting smart investments where needed in areas of infrastructure, workforce development, and economic development. The legislation you supported, or opposed, furthered North Dakota as a great place to live, work and do business. GNDC’s vision is to make North Dakota’s business climate the best in the nation; we appreciate your partnership in working toward this vision.

I would like to have Shane Anderson list the votes they are talking about so we can take a look at them.”

Representative Dwight Kiefert

67th-Legislative-Session-Solid-Bills-Report

Here is Shane Anderson’s response to Rep. Dwight Kiefert request.

“Kiefert uses something called the Solid Policy Bills to tout his conservatism, he doesn’t identify who puts this rating out. Apparently Kiefert allies himself with them. But when you look at his conservative ratings on a cross section of bills that the American Conservative Union rates. (ACU was created decades ago and quickly became considered the “gold standard” and over the following decades have been utilized by activists, voters, academics and elected officials to determine which lawmakers best adhere to conservative principles.) Kiefert falls short at 55%, he ranks 92ndin conservative values out of the ND House of representatives. Go to American Conservative Union to see Kiefert’s score and the bills that were used to score him. http://ratings.conservative.org/people/

Our team has tried all we can to find this “solid policy report,” somewhere other than your article to no avail. It looks to me like this is something Kiefert and his backers in the GOP establishment have simply invented out of the blue to make him look better. Contrast that with the ACU that has been a respected source for these ratings for years.

Since Kiefert was allowed to ask us to provide information, bills where he voted against conservative principals, they are included in the ACU scorecard that we provided a link. We have a request for Kiefert, tell us how many days this last session that he was at his desk in person on the house floor in Bismarck?”

Shane Anderson

District 24

Recall Committee Chairman