Fan Mail

Replying to a Future Constituent

I received a hand-written letter, and that’s how I have responded. This picture and my response are not about mockery. I reserve that for Pete Hegseth, Kristi Noem, Kash Patel, Scott Bessent, Stephen Miller . . .

Dear Reader,

Thank you for your generous donation to Hammer for ND. I am so glad you stayed (well) within the maximum individual contribution limit of $7000. There were several other envelopes in the PO box¹ the day your check arrived. All but one contained a similar check. The good news is that my campaign is sticking close to that $32 average donation from the last campaign. Yay!—extra points for consistency.

Donations (much) larger than $32 are okay. We are not that committed to maintaining our average. Should your wealthy uncle decide to send us a check (or online donation) for $7000, we will gladly accept it. We are pulling for you to win the lottery and, perhaps, send a donation of $7000 minus what you have already contributed. (Unless you win the lottery after the June 9th primary. Then it would be $3500 minus what you have already contributed.) Do not cash in your child’s college savings account in order to contribute to my campaign unless he or she is a high-school senior and the account contains $7000 or less. In that case, your money may be better spent helping to elect a Congress that cares about the high cost of a college education and the nearly life-long debt incurred to pay for it.

Along with your very generous campaign contribution (thanks, again) there was a letter from a person I assume to be a North Dakota resident. The return address was from a town even smaller than the one where I grew up. I got out my pen and wrote a reply, which I will send tomorrow, but first I am typing out his letter and my reply here.

The Letter:

Trygve Hammer

Why don’t you Democrats get the hint that RED North Dakota does NOT like your liberal pro-Biden, pro-Obama, pro-Chuckie Schumer, anti-American policies? We do not like big government, more taxes and socialism and benefits for illegals and lazy Somalians [sic] in any state. Are you not aware of Democrat [sic] fraud in Minnesota, nine billion-plus dollars to date? Violent rioters, lying incompetent tampon Timmy Walz and crooked, incestuous Representative Omar? You only got 30% of the North Dakota vote in 2024. Why humiliate yourself again? And that Thompson guy has no chance either. He’s a Heitkamp lackey. Thank you for you service as a Marine. All retired Marines I know are Republicans. You should be too. MAGA!

My reply:

Fellow North Dakotan,

Thank you for writing and for acknowledging my service. You’re right—I am a Marine. I deployed to Iraq in 2003 as an infantry officer with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marines. Before that, I was a helicopter pilot and forward air controller. Before that, I was enlisted in the Navy and then went to the U.S. Naval Academy.

You ask why I’m running as a Democrat in a “RED” state. Here’s the thing: I’m not much for labels because they can confer judgments, and judgments mark the end of thinking. If we limit our options to ideas that come from boxes labeled “Conservative ideas” or “Progressive ideas” or “Government solutions” or “Free-market solutions,” our thinking is stunted from the beginning. So, I don’t believe in a red North Dakota or blue Minnesota. I believe North Dakota is full of people who work hard, pay their bills, and want a government that does the same. They are kind and generous by default. The folks I grew up with and the ones I worked alongside on oil rigs and on freight trains and in classrooms didn’t sort themselves by party or ideology before deciding whether to lend a hand.

You mention I got 30% of the vote in 2024 and believe there’s no way I could win in 2026. This does make me wonder why you would bother to write. I’m glad you did, though. I don’t think those retired Marines you know would expect me to just roll over and play dead as the First, Second, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments are trampled.

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Democratic candidates have seen a positive 14-point shift in elections held this year, and two very recent elections saw Democrats outperform by over 30 points. Thirty points puts me in office. Fourteen points puts me in striking distance, and your help can get me the rest of the way there.

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There’s nothing humiliating about losing an election. Running for office teaches you about yourself. If you do it right, people you meet on the campaign trail educate you and sometimes even change your mind. None of what we debated in the last election has gotten any better. Groceries, health insurance, electric rates, and housing have only gotten more expensive. North Dakota farmers are have lost markets and seen input costs continue to increase due to tariffs. Those tariffs are a tax that has cost the average U.S. family over a thousand dollars since Trump took office. Our current representative has been so busy with culture-war theater and auditioning for cable news that she hasn’t noticed North Dakotans are paying more for everything while making less.

One of our rural hospitals recently needed the state legislature to approve a low-interest operating loan from the Bank of North Dakota (Socialism!) so they could keep the hospital open. And remember: the provisions of the Big Beautiful Bill which will hurt rural hospitals the most won’t kick in until after the election.

You bring up Governor Walz and Representative Omar. I’m not running in Minnesota, so their records aren’t really my concern. But I will say this: Tim Walz is a fellow veteran and teacher, and the “Tampon Timmy” attack was based on the lie that a 2023 law in Minnesota mandated tampon dispensers in boys’ bathrooms. And “incestuous” Representative Omar? That myth has been debunked repeatedly. Name-calling and conspiracy theories aren’t conservatism; they’re cruelty dressed up as politics.

As for “benefits for illegals and lazy Somalians,” I can tell you that Somalis and other immigrants start businesses at a higher rate and commit crimes at a lower rate than persons born here. Laziness isn’t determined by where you were born or the color of your skin. Neither is worth. Also, undocumented immigrants are ineligible for Medicaid and SNAP. They are not even allowed to buy health insurance on the ACA exchange.

You say all the retired Marines you know are Republicans. I know plenty of Marines, sailors, soldiers, and airmen from all political stripes. My son and one son-in-law are in the Navy. My other son-in-law is in the Coast Guard. They’re serving right now, and they deserve leadership at DOD and DHS that takes the job seriously.

I have repeatedly taken an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That oath doesn’t expire, and it doesn’t belong to one side of the aisle.

Here’s what I believe: Government should be small enough to stay out of your business and competent enough to help when disaster strikes. Taxes should be fair—corporations and billionaires shouldn’t pay lower rates than teachers and train conductors. And if we’re going to claim we’re pro-life, that ought to mean something after the baby’s born—good schools, clean water, healthcare you can afford.

You don’t have to vote for me. But I hope you’ll at least expect more from whomever represents you than partisan point-scoring while your costs go up and export markets disappear.

Thanks again for writing. I mean that.

Semper Fi,

Trygve Hammer

1. Hammer for ND, PO Box 58, Minot ND 58702-0058