West Fargo man running for Dorgan’s Senate seat

• Keith Hanson

Keith Hanson

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Keith Hanson knows his chances are slim at winning North Dakota’s open U.S. Senate seat in November, but the Libertarian said his candidacy provides voters with an alternative to the usual two-party competition.

“I am running so North Dakotans have another option besides the regular Democrats and Republicans,” Hanson said. “I’m extremely worried about where this country’s headed with the massive amounts of government spending.”

Hanson, 32, works as a systems engineer for Harland Financial Solutions in Fargo and lives with his wife, Sara, and 1-year-old son, Landon, in West Fargo.

He’s challenging Democrat Tracy Potter and Republican John Hoeven for the seat being vacated by Sen. Byron Dorgan.

Libertarians typically advocate for individual freedoms and favor limited government, including less regulation – a platform Hanson emphasizes on his website and when discussing the issues of most concern to him.

“The thing that worries me the most about everything is we have trillions of dollars in debt, and it’s just gotten out of hand,” Hanson said. “We’ve got to look at where we’re going as a country. This is just not sustainable.”

Among the proposals Hanson has for reducing federal spending: reduce America’s military activity overseas through less warfare and fewer bases abroad.

“There’s not much reason to have military bases in hundreds of countries,” he said.

Aside from his website and Facebook page, Hanson said he’s bringing awareness to his Senate bid through speaking engagements and media interviews.

But Hanson said he realizes the probable outcome of November’s midterm elections. Hoeven is seen widely by political observers as the likely favorite to win the Senate seat.

“It’s not really much of a contest,” Hanson said. “The best I can hope for is a small percentage of the vote, but I’m going to give the voters another choice.”

Hanson said North Dakotans who favor smaller government should vote for him.

“We’ve got big-government Republicans, big-government Democrats, but Libertarians are really about the small-government choice,” Hanson said. “The biggest message they could send to Hoeven is to vote Libertarian. That’s really where your vote will count the most.”

Hanson received 548 votes in the June primary – enough to qualify him to appear on the November ballot.

He said he has little political experience but served as the North Dakota Libertarian Party chairman for a few years.

“I’m just a normal, working-class citizen,” he said. “I’m just an average guy.”

Readers can reach Forum reporter Kristen Daum at (701) 241-5541

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