Readme Election Corner (2024)
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA - Tempers ran high at Monday’s Readme Pitch meeting as the topic of the November 5th, 2024 North Dakota gubernatorial election was brought up once again. Chairs were thrown, walls were punched, and several friendships ended in emotionally devastating ways after the names of past candidates Doug Burgum, Merrill Piepkorn, and Michael Coachman were mentioned. I interviewed several Carnegie Mellon students associated with the organization. The following are the most significant excerpts from my many conversations (and the only part of each conversation that consisted of words and not a series of impossible to describe guttural, rage-filled noises)
[All names have been redacted for the safety of interviewees]
“When the incumbent Doug Burgman decided not to seek reelection, I lit several fires”
- █████ , junior
“I remember when the US Representative for North Dakota's at-large congressional district Kelly Armstrong beat North Dakota Lieutenant Governor Tammy Miller in the Republican primary. I felt that posting on existing social media sites could not adequately express my deep, passionate, and resolute beliefs, so I spent months creating an entirely new and more politically toxic one that I could post on”
- ██████ , freshman
“I will fight several people to the death in a gladiatorial fashion over the naming structure of the North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party that formed as the outcome of a merger of two parties in North Dakota’s original three-party system”
- ████ , sophomore
“Is the south of North Dakota known as South North Dakota and is the north of South Dakota known as North South Dakota?”
- ████ , sophomore
“My opinions on this matter are stronger than any of the bonds I have with the people in my life”
- ██████ , sophomore