Trump-aligned candidate for North Dakota’s lone House seat gets boost from Vivek Ramaswamy

FIRST ON FOX: A Republican running for North Dakota’s lone seat in the House of Representatives is getting an endorsement from former 2024 Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy.

Rick Becker, a plastic surgeon who previously served in North Dakota’s state House, is running in a three-way June 11 Republican primary to see who will advance to the November general election. Current Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., is vacating the seat to run for governor.

“The U.S. government is giving massive taxpayer money to companies to build a CO2 pipeline across the Midwest, including North Dakota, to appease the global climate cult. There are real hazards and many farmers don’t want it on their land, but now they’re looking to use eminent domain, which is a gross violation of property rights,” Ramaswamy told Fox News Digital.

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Former 2024 presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy is endorsing former North Dakota state House representative Rick Becker in the state’s lone U.S. House race. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images and Rick Becker for US Congress)

“Dr. Rick Becker is dead set against it and refuses to bow to the bipartisan Establishment who backs this sham. He signed my American Truth Pledge and I’m proud to endorse him for Congress.”

Becker thanked Ramaswamy for the endorsement and lauded him as an “American patriot who shares my commitment to defending the truth against the radical WOKE mob that seeks to undermine American values.”

The former state official has sought to align himself with former President Trump and the populist wing of the GOP. Ramaswamy dropped out of the primary early and has since vehemently campaigned for Trump. The former president himself has not made an endorsement in the race.

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U.S. House Rep. Kelly Armstrong is retiring to run for North Dakota governor. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Becker is also being backed by members of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of GOP hardliners that Becker pledged to join if he won a seat in Congress. 

He’s been endorsed by former Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, R-Pa., along with members Reps. Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., Andy Harris, R-Md., Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, and Eric Burlison, R-Mo.

Becker previously ran for U.S. Senate as an independent candidate against Republican incumbent Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Democratic candidate Katrina Christiansen, who is running again this year.

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Former House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry has also endorsed Becker. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

During his time as a state representative, Becker founded and led an ultra-conservative faction of the state House called the Bastiat Caucus, which frequently challenged the state’s Republican officials to push further right. It was named after 19th-century French economist Frédéric Bastiat.

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His fellow Republicans in the House primary are Julie Fedorchak, who has served on North Dakota’s Public Service Commission since 2013, and former State Department official Alex Balazs. The lone Democrat in the race is Marine Corps veteran Trygve Hammer.