Katrina Christiansen aims for Cramer’s Senate Seat in 2024

Published by KX News | November 8, 2023

NORTH DAKOTA (KXNET) — North Dakota’s Katrina Christiansen may not have won her bid for a seat in the Senate in 2022, but she hasn’t given up on her dream yet — and in the following year, she will once again be vying for the position.

“I’m very excited to talk to North Dakotans about the issues that matter most to them,” Christiansen stated. “Issues that affect their pocketbook. The cost of healthcare, the access to healthcare, mental health resources, teacher shortages — all of these things affect our economy. If we don’t have teachers, we won’t have people who will be able to fill jobs in the future.”

During her 2024 campaign for a Senate position, Christiansen will be running a platform focused on addressing the economic struggles that concern North Dakotans and says that after state residents helped fund her campaign, she aims to speak up for communities in need, and will focus on inflation, and energy costs.

This is a stark difference from her previous platform, but a change that was necessary when considering her rivals for the seat.

“I think last time that I ran, the candidates were quite different,” she stated, “and both ineffective. One was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and the other was fortunate to have enough name recognition to just get elected.”

She also says that running in 2022 gave her some recognition and put her in a more competitive spot to run this time around, and while she was disappointed with the result, she shares it set her up for a good campaign this cycle — especially now that she feels she understands what to do to win over others.

“I think one of the things that our former Democratic representatives had was a relationship with voters,” Christiansen stated. “Everybody knew Kent and Byron and Earl and Heidi by their first names, and I think that what we need to do is reach out to those voters directly. We’re going to spend lots of time going around the state and interacting with voters so that they know Katrina. They know who I am, and that I am a problem solver, and I don’t give up.”

In the past, KX has spoken with current Senator Kevin Cramer — and while he states that he was not personally familiar with Christiansen, the two both appeared at the NDUS Innovation Campus, where they discussed the Food Safety Modernization Act.

During the interview, he made the following statement in regard to Christiansen’s previous debate performance.

“It’s the only time I’ve ever seen her at all,” Cramer stated. “The debate she had with her two opponents in the last election cycle. I mean, somebody’s got to run, I guess, but it wasn’t a stellar performance. At the same time, I applaud anybody that’s willing to put their name in the arena and stick their chin out in this rough-and-tumble world of exceptional self-governance. I ran and lost three times before I succeeded in an election for Congress, so good for her for being willing to do it.”

However, Christiansen does not believe that this comment was made in good faith, and expresses a desire to prove that she is a far better opponent than he would expect.

“I think that that was a shot above the bow from Senator Cramer,” she noted. “It wasn’t so much valuable criticism. I had a lot of fun debating Rick and John, and I got a lot of compliments on my performance. I think one of the things that Kevin isn’t used to is somebody who’s not going to capitulate, and he better get used to that. It’s going to be a long 12 months.”

Senator Cramer has sat in the U.S. Senate since 2018, but has not yet announced if he will be running for the position again.