As Democrats nationally campaign on abortion access following the Supreme Court’s June ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, a red-state Democrat is bucking the trend.
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Democrat Mark Haugen, who is challenging Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) for North Dakota’s at-large congressional district, is running a campaign focused on key issues for the state: the 2023 farm bill and improving access to healthcare for rural residents. But it is his position on abortion that is drawing attention, as it sets him apart from most other candidates in his party this cycle.
“I never hid my pro-life beliefs,” Haugen told the Washington Examiner in an interview this week. “Everybody knew I’m pro-life. I’m Catholic, and I’m very active in the Catholic community here in Bismarck.”
“Although we are a minority,” Haugen said, “we are a voice out there.”
Haugen knows his odds are steep: Armstrong carried 69% of the state’s vote in 2020, and the seat is seen as a safe one for Republicans by nonpartisan election analysts.
“It’s tough and a deep-red state for Democrats,” he said, adding, “We’re working as hard as we can. Democrats, we always know we have to outwork our opponent.”
Haugen said he is making the best case he can to voters as he travels the state, joking he has been to “the Crystal Springs rest stop 10 times,” a spot near the center of North Dakota.
An independent campaign by Cara Mund, a Bismarck native and former Miss America running as a pro-abortion rights candidate, could also shake up the race. But Haugen did not appear concerned she would cut into his support.
“She’s going to take away from both parties,” Haugen said. “So I guess it’s anybody’s guess how much of that pie she’s going to slice up.”
Dozens of anti-abortion House Democrats, many of them Catholic, were in office as recently as 2010, but these lawmakers have since lost reelection or chosen not to run. One such former member, Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL), notably lost a primary challenge from a pro-abortion rights candidate in 2020 by a narrow margin.
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), who holds anti-abortion views, narrowly defeated a pro-abortion rights primary challenger earlier this year and is considered the last anti-abortion Democrat in the House.
If Haugen were to be elected to Congress, the ranks of anti-abortion Democrats in the chamber would essentially double.
Asked how he would navigate becoming something of a figurehead for anti-abortion Democrats and how he might bridge that divide within his party, Haugen likened it to the differences between centrists and progressives more broadly and said the party needs moderate, “blue dog Democrats.”
“We can take that centrist message and reach across the aisle to the Republicans,” he said. “I think that’s probably the direction I would take.”
Haugen said the events of Jan. 6 should be proof that “for our democracy to function and work for society and all citizens,” legislators need to work together and compromise with one another across party lines.
“Compromise means you’re not going to get everything you want,” he said. “You’re going to have to give a little, take a little. There’s just too much of both sides of the parties that are entrenching themselves to the right, to the left. And I hope we can just develop that middle coalition.”
Compromise was a key factor in Haugen’s pitch to his own party about being able to represent it on the ballot. Some members of the North Dakota Democratic-Nonpartisan League Party, the state’s affiliate of the Democratic Party and the result of a historic merger between parties in the Progressive Era, objected to supporting him as their candidate due to his views on abortion. But a resolution to reconsider support of Haugen failed last month, as the party decided to continue its support of his candidacy despite differences in views on abortion.
Haugen said the decision to continue supporting his candidacy shows the party understood that he is “pro-life, but it should not be a litmus test in the Democratic NPL, and I agree with that.”
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Whatever the outcome, Haugen said, he is enjoying the opportunity to run for Congress.
“It’s a privilege to be able to represent your party, represent the people in North Dakota, and engage in a political debate, and that’s what I cherish, that’s what I do with gratitude whether I win or lose,” he said.
