BISMARCK — Julie Fedorchak announced today she is running for North Dakota’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Fedorchak, a Republican, has served on the North Dakota Public Service Commission since 2012. She has been elected statewide three times, most recently in 2022 with 71 percent of the vote.
“As Public Service Commissioner, I have been on the front lines of North Dakota’s energy boom, leading during a time of incredible change in our state,” Fedorchak said. “Mine is a record of results, not rhetoric. I plan to bring that same approach to Congress.”
Fedorchak said most North Dakotans are deeply troubled by the state of our federal government and the unproductive political environment in D.C. “We have made a mess of things, and we can’t leave this kind of America for our kids to fix,” she said. “Too many leaders in Washington spend their time at the bottom of the mountain of problems blaming others for how big and steep and rocky it is. I intend to seek solutions to overcome this mountain one step at a time and chart a brighter future for America.”
She said energy and agriculture policy will be top priorities, along with working to right-size government, balance the federal budget, and address immigration. She said the nation faces serious challenges when it comes to energy policy, most of them self-inflicted. “Misguided and unrealistic energy policy is creating a public safety risk, a national security threat and an economic disaster waiting to happen. We need to correct our course and North Dakota can lead the way,” she said.
In fact, she said North Dakota offers successful governance models that can be used on a larger national scale to help solve some of our nation’s biggest challenges including balanced budgeting, infrastructure permitting, broadband deployment, and environmental regulation. “I look forward to bringing my proven approach to problem solving to work for North Dakotans in Washington,” she said.
Fedorchak is currently the President of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC). She serves on the advisory board for the Electric Power Research Institute and has held numerous leadership roles including president of the Organization of MISO States (OMS), vice-chair of the NARUC Gas Committee and vice president of the Gas Technology Institute’s advisory board. She is a member of the Aspen Institute’s Rodel Class of 2015.
Fedorchak has led the Commission’s siting portfolio for more than a decade and has overseen the permitting of more than $10 billion of investments. Fedorchak has managed a transparent process that invites public input, provides regulatory certainty and mitigates landowner concerns, safety risks and long-term environmental, historic and cultural impacts. She received legislative approval for a state rail safety program, has helped extend natural gas service to rural areas, and led efforts to enhance the Commission’s reclamation programs.
Fedorchak has deep roots in North Dakota and extensive experience in the private and public sectors. She was born in Williston, the youngest of Duane and Doris Liffrig’s eight children, grew up in Fargo, and graduated from high school in Bismarck. Like many young North Dakotans during that time, Fedorchak left the state to find work following her graduation from the University of North Dakota with a degree in journalism. Governor Ed Schafer recruited her back to the state to serve as his communication director and senior policy advisor. After Schafer’s retirement, she owned and operated her own communications firm for 10 years before being called back to service first as state director for U.S. Senator John Hoeven then as a member of the PSC.
She and her husband Mike Fedorchak of Minot have been married for 25 years, have three children and live in Bismarck.