Marijuana is already legal in North Dakota. At least for medicinal reasons. But the backers of a new ballot measure want recreational use of marijuana to be legal as well.

The campaign is calling itself New Economic Frontier. Their measure was just approved by the North Dakota Secretary of State's office for circulation. They have until July 8 to get it on the November ballot, though if they miss that deadline they'll still have a year from the date they began collecting signatures to qualify for the next statewide vote.

Steve Bakken, the former mayor of Bismarck, and current member of the Burleigh County Commission, joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss the measure.

North Dakotans have said no to recreational marijuana before, though the "no" side of the argument has been shrinking.

In 2018, just over 40% of voters cast their ballots for a proposal to legalize.

In 2021, another legalization proposal passed in the state House of Representatives on a 56-38 vote, though it failed in the state Senate with just 10 Senators approving it.

In 2022, just over 45% of voters cast a ballot for another legalization proposal.

Bakken says that's progress, and they're relying on it to get this measure over the finish line, though Bakken says he isn't planning on partaking if it's successful. "I'm not interested in using it," he said, but he does think the status quo creates problems, such as dangerous marijuana products mixed with other drugs.

"It's tragic when you see someone who smokes some canabis and then dies from a fentanly overdose," he said.

Want to subscribe to Plain Talk? Search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for more information.

U.S. Senate candidate Katrina Christiansen says the incumbent in her race "isn't that popular."

Christiansen is running unopposed for the Democratic-NPL's nomination, and the incumbent she's referring to is Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer, who is seeking a second six-year term. The challenger says she has polling suggesting that only 33% of previous Cramer voters are committed to voting for the incumbent again.

"I think that shows the race can be competitive," she told me and my co-host Chad Oban, though she acknowledges that she has her own challenges. "My name rec is not great," she said, referring to name recognition, a common campaign metric, especially for challengers.

We talked mostly about the question of federal policy on abortion -- Christiansen said she would vote to "codify Roe" in federal law -- and foreign policy. On the latter, Christiansen said Congress should have passed more aid funding for Ukraine "six months ago." She also spoke strong in support of Israel, though she says she supports a ceasefire.

Still, "Supporting Ukraine puts America first," she said. "Supporting Israel puts America first."

Christiansen said that if elected, she'll be "a foreign policy hawk."

Also on this episode, we discuss the first debate between Republican gubernatorial candidates Tammy Miller and Kelly Armstrong, as well as my story about Miller's running mate, Commerce Commissioner Josh Teigen, and some personal conflicts of interest he had with his work in the Commerce Department under Gov. Doug Burgum's administration.

To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get our podcasts, or click here for more information.

It wasn't on purpose, but bipartisanship and moderation ended up being the themes of this episode of Plain Talk.

Whether we're talking about a Republican Speaker of the House, under siege from the MAGA wing of his own party, reaching out to Democrats to get things done, or democracy engaging on the issue of abortion now that the Roe v. Wade precedent has been overturned, it's clear that process matters. And when we engage in the process, and we have the debates, and we don't let ourselves be derailed by all the various flavors of theatrical obstructionism, the outcomes we get are further from what the extremes might want, and closer to what most of us can live with.

Co-host Chad Oban and I talk about renewed controversy about delegate votes at the NDGOP state convention and whether U.S. House candidate Rick Becker's promises to help contribute to the chaos in Congress if elected is going to help him with North Dakota voters.

We asked the guest for this show, Sen. Kevin Cramer, about that last point. "I think it's consistent with how Rick Becker has behaved in the Legislature," he said, arguing that Becker's campaign trail posturing is authentic. "It might be a good tactic to being the largest vote getter in a five-way race, he added.

But also, "the House doesn't really need more bulls in a China closet," Cramer added.

Want to subscribe to Plain Talk? Search for the show wherever you get your podcasts, or click here for more information.