BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — An attorney for the Republican primary winner for North Dakota’s lone U.S. House of Representatives seat has filed complaints with federal authorities over text messages that falsely stated she had withdrawn from the heated Republican Party primaries on the day of June 11. election. Her attorney said the messages could be a test for a broader effort this fall.
Julie Fedorchak, a longtime state utility supervisor, was the subject of the messages. Attorney Shane Goettle said Tuesday that he recently filed complaints on behalf of her campaign with the Federal Election Commission and the Federal Communications Commission and alerted the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He alleged election interference and fraudulent use of text messages to deceive voters.
The messages portrayed Fedorchak’s withdrawal by misrepresenting headlines and an interview clip, Goettle said. Fedorchak did withdraw from a controversial endorsement process during the April convention, but she continued in the five-person race and won.
Thousands of North Dakotans across the state appeared to be receiving the misleading messages, Goettle said.
The nature of the race in North Dakota — five candidates in a state with a small population — might have provided a smaller market to potentially beta-test the messaging before a larger effort, he said.
“I think whoever is behind this is probably trying it out in a primary and could very well use this as a tool to disrupt elections across the country if they succeed,” Goettle said.
He said the campaign has no specific information about who is behind the messages, but that he has made an effort to identify a number of affected phone numbers, all with the North Dakota area code 701.
He declined to share the complaints, saying the campaign does not want to publish names if it is unclear whether those people or entities still own the songs.
Fedorchak’s Republican opponents denied involvement. The NPL Democratic Party denounced the posts and others like them calling on Democrats to vote for former state Rep. Rick Becker, who was running in the Republican House primary.
