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As a young man, Sen. Larry Robinsons father decided to go into the sheep business. He and a partner found a place, bought the animals and settled in for the winter. It was a tough one. Each day, the elder Robinson counted the sheep and reported to his partner. One day, the partner said, At this rate, pretty soon we wont have any sheep.

That, says the Valley City lawmaker, is how it feels to be a Democrat in the North Dakota Legislature.

Robinson entered the Senate in 1987. His election pushed the Democrats to 27 members, giving the party a one-seat majority that year. In 1989, the states centennial year, Democrats held 32 of 53 seats in the state Senate. They held on to a majority through 1993.

This session, their caucus totals just nine of 47 senators.

Thats not a record low, though. In 1967, the Senate had five Democrats. As a gimmick, they caucused in a phone booth. The following year, there were six Democratic senators.

In the state House, the numbers are grimmer: There are 13 Democrats among the 94 House members. In 1965, House Democrats had their only majority in the states history; in 1977, they held exactly half the seats.

Rep. Tracy Boe, D-Mylo, is philosophical about all this. First elected in 2002, hes never been in the majority. About the only difference it makes, he says, is you never get to chair a committee.

In many ways, Boe, who farms near Mylo in the north-central part of the state, represents the historic Democratic coalition. Hes a member of both the Farmers Union a traditional cornerstone of Democratic power in the state and the Farm Bureau, a more conservative organization. Hes also a board member of a rural electric cooperative. In an interview, he said hes probably the most conservative Democrat in the Legislature.

He also concedes that hes probably lucky. He represents District 9, an odd-numbered district, so he didnt face re-election in 2016, which brought a tidal wave of Republicans into the Legislature.

District 9 is perhaps the most dependably Democratic in the state. Its second House member is Marvin Nelson, of Rolla, the Democrats unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate last year; and its senator is Richard Marcellais, of Belcourt, former chairman of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.

Nelson and Boe are the only Democrats in the House from districts outside the Red River Valley. Of the other 11 Democratic House members, seven are from Fargo, two are from Grand Forks, and one each is from Wahpeton and Mayville.

In the Senate, Merrill Piepkorn, elected from a Fargo district in 2016, says he figures its a little harder for Democrats to get bills passed.

Itd be good to have a little more balance, he said.

Democrats in the Senate are more geographically dispersed. Besides Marcellais, two others are from rural districts: James Dotzenrod, of Wyndmere, in southeastern North Dakota; and the caucus leader, Joan Heckaman, of New Rockford, in the center of the state. Others are one each from Bismarck, Jamestown and Valley City and three from Fargo.

The Democrats are a fairly feisty bunch, despite their small numbers. Heckaman said her goal is to hold Republicans accountable. Her response to GOP moves to change the states process for initiated measures is an example. She held a news conference to attack the idea and introduced amendments to broaden the membership of a committee that would study the issue.

In the House, Caucus Leader Corey Mock, of Grand Forks, has taken an equally defiant position. Hes asked Democrats to resist retrenchment in the state codes.

I hate repealers, he said, because once provisions areremoved from the law, they are rarely reinstated.

This is significant because Republicans have introduced bills this session to repeal a range of laws, from licensing for hay sales to certification for online education courses.

Excerpt from:
Democrats pose philosophical on reduced numbers - Bismarck Tribune