Republican Doug Goehring and Democrat Vern Thompson debated tariffs, data centers and the farm crisis. Both agreed that producers are going through the worst crisis in 40 years and that Trump's tariffs are making the problem worse.
North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, a Republican, and his Democratic challenger, Vern Thompson, debated this week over tariffs, the farm crisis and the regulation of data centers. The encounter, organized by Rob Port and Chad Oban of the Plain Talk podcast, also laid bare a key difference in how the two candidates conceive the role of government in the development of data centers and other industries.
Both agreed that the state's agricultural producers are going through the worst farm crisis in 40 years and that the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump are part of the problem.
Thompson criticized the commissioner's silence on tariff policies. "I don't have the patience for people sitting silently on the sidelines. If it was a Democrat that did what they did with the tariffs or went to war, I'd stand up and say, 'You're wrong,'" he said, adding that he has not heard the commissioner defend the people affected.
Goehring, though he did not directly blame Trump, condemned the tariffs and contradicted one of the president's arguments. "Countries don't pay tariffs. The consumer pays tariffs. I've made that point over and over again. It's just a tax. It's a different form of tax," he said, adding that he has "a lot of problems" with that policy. Still, he qualified: "We're not happy about it, but these are the cards we're dealt. So we're going to try and work through it."
On data centers, Thompson — who is seeking to become the first Democrat to win a statewide office in North Dakota since Heidi Heitkamp's U.S. Senate victory in 2012 — called for basic regulation at the state level to help local governments handle permits for multimillion-dollar projects. "The state of North Dakota has failed the people of North Dakota in this industry," he said, arguing that "people want government to work for them, not against them."
Goehring, by contrast, said developers need to do a better job explaining the purpose of their facilities, the infrastructure demands and the benefits for communities, but he defended the idea that the government should not get in the way of a private property owner who wants to develop their land. "Respecting people's private property rights also means we can't stop you from doing certain things as long as it's legal," he said.
Thompson responded that the rights of neighbors and of the community must also be respected, and that local control must take precedence. "A township should have the right to decide if they want industrial development in their township, regardless of who sells the land," he said, warning that without that control, "part of the fabric that made North Dakota the state it is" is lost. Goehring replied that he is not a fan of "NIMBY" (not in my backyard) attitudes, though he acknowledged that zoning can be "reasonable and responsible."
The candidates also disagreed over how active an agriculture commissioner should be. Thompson accused Goehring and other state officials of not advocating forcefully enough. "Nobody wants to do anything outside of their lane. Nobody wants to advocate. Nobody wants to work together. That's how you solve problems: you work together," he said.
Goehring argued that the role of the executive branch is to "execute, implement and enforce," and that it falls to the Legislature to set policy in most cases. "Your wings are going to get clipped. The Legislature is very clear about what authority you have and what you get to do," he explained, describing his work as behind-the-scenes management with different government stakeholders. He said he is in talks with the Bank of North Dakota and the Department of Commerce to build a framework of fertilizer incentives.
Thompson, who has proposed directing the natural gas earmarked for data centers to fertilizer plants instead and thereby lowering farmers' input costs, rejected that approach. "I'm sorry, commissioner, you and the state of North Dakota have failed the people. I'm going to be out there advocating and talking to the people, and I'm going to use the bully pulpit that you haven't used on this issue," he said.
Faced with the criticism, Goehring reviewed his record: he worked with the governor to make red-dyed diesel available on the state's highways and took part in the Bank of North Dakota's agricultural relief loan program, expanded to 500 million dollars. He also said he has responded to the tariffs with comments to federal farm agencies and by trying to promote North Dakota agricultural products among trade contacts abroad.
Thompson questioned whether that is enough. "Talking is good. That's what we need. Communicating. That's great. Where's the plan? What kind of plan have you got for the high cost of inputs in North Dakota?" he asked.
Goehring, a third-generation farmer who has held the office since 2009 and has been elected four times, was optimistic about the future of the sector, which he farmed in during the 1980s just as Thompson did. "When it comes right down to it, we're a blessed and fortunate nation. We are the land of abundance," he said, citing research, technology and trade as ways to support farmers and ranchers. Thompson, for his part, runs a trucking business in Fargo, was a farmer and is a former state legislator.
