North Dakota House candidate Rick Becker says history is repeating itself within the Republican Party

May 3—GRAND FORKS — Rick Becker says infighting within the Republican Party is, in many ways, history repeating itself.

"The party infighting sometimes can be a bit of trope, because there's always party infighting," he said. "There's party infighting on both sides, and there has been for many decades. ... It was the same in the 1960s with (Barry) Goldwater and (Nelson) Rockefeller."

In 1964, then-governor of New York Nelson Rockefeller lost the Republican presidential nomination to Sen. Barry Goldwater of Arizona. At the time, Rockefeller represented the liberal side of the Republican Party and Goldwater the conservative side. In Becker's view, a lot of today's fighting is because of the federal government spending too much.

"We must do something to stop the excess of spending; the future of our children and grandchildren depends on it," he said. "I think the conservatives are being a little bit more aggressive to try and get this to stop."

Becker is running for North Dakota's sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and is

one of five candidates seeking the Republican nomination.

Becker previously ran as an independent candidate against Sen. John Hoeven in 2022. He also served in the North Dakota Legislature from 2012 to 2022 and formed the Bastiat Caucus, which sought to promote conservative values and policy in the Legislature.

He said his experiences are a "perfect parallel" to what is currently happening and would put him ahead of the competition running for the U.S. House seat.

"I went in as a strong conservative; I had to navigate in an environment where the general, Republican establishment was much more moderate, and I had to band together with other conservatives to be more influential in the Republican majority," he said. "Was I a pain in the (expletive) to the Republican leadership? Yes. On the other hand, did I get a substantial, significant policy passed into law? Absolutely."

According to Becker, the biggest fight in the NDGOP is between the grassroots, which he believes he represents, and the establishment, which he says Public Service Commissioner

Julie Fedorchak represents.

"If you look at who's supporting Julie, as far as endorsements and who's backing Julie's campaign, it's the same people that have been involved with Hoeven's campaign or the other (establishment) campaigns," he said. "It doesn't matter who the gladiators are, the fight is still between the grassroots and the establishment."

In early April, supporters of Becker spoiled their ballots during the endorsement process for the U.S. House candidate at the North Dakota GOP convention. Eventually, the endorsement went to

Alex Balazs, who received the nomination after Fedorchak dropped out.

The multiple rounds of voting show that some in the party didn't like either of their options, according to Becker.

"It was uncomfortable for the establishment and it was unusual, but it has a little bit more to do with sour grapes than it does anything else," he said. "(My supporters) went because they're delegates and are involved, but they did not want either of the options presented to them for House."

Becker was not eligible for the endorsement since he ran as an independent in 2022. NDGOP party rules state that because he ran outside of the party within the past six years, he cannot receive the endorsement.

He's most concerned about the direction the country is going, and that's driving why he's campaigning.

"We're at a point in time in which I think we're right on the brink of no return on several things," he said. "I'm concerned about what it's going to look like for my children or grandchildren."