News
Bottineau native, Kalk endorsed by GOP for US Representative
Scott Wagar
04/03/2012
On Sunday, Bottineau High School graduate and North Dakota Public Service Commissioner, Brian Kalk, won the Republican ticket to be the party’s candidate for the U.S. House during the GOP’s state convention.
Kalk was born and raised in Bottineau. He is a 1984 graduate of Bottineau High School and attended Dakota College at Bottineau prior to joining the U.S. Marine Corps in 1987.
While serving in the Marine Corps, Kalk earned his Bachelor’s degree in political science from Campbell University in North Carolina. He went on to earn his Master’s degree in environmental engineering and Doctorate in natural resource management from NDSU.
During his 20 years of service in the military, he was deployed to combat zones in Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraq Freedom. He also assisted in the evacuations of the American Embassies in Liberia and the Central Africa Republic.
Upon retiring from the Marine Corps, Kalk accepted a position with the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute in Fargo. In 2008, he campaigned and won a six year term as a North Dakota Public Service Commissioner.
On Sunday, at the Bismarck Civic Center, Kalk defeated Shane Goettle, the former director of North Dakota’s Commerce Department, on a vote of 929 to 676 to win the nomination.
Besides Kalk and Goettle, there were three other candidates for the U.S. House position, along with three ballots before Kalk was chosen. Outside of Goettle, the three other candidates which made a bid for the U.S. House nomination included Bette Grande, R-Fargo; Kim Koppelman, R–West Fargo and Duwayne Hendrickson of Minot.
Kalk will now face-off against his present colleague in the North Dakota Public Service Commissioner Office, Kevin Cramer, who chose not to run in the Republic Convention over the weekend, but has chosen to place his name on the primary ballot in June.