Two Democrats are competing for their party’s endorsement in North Dakota’s U.S. House race, a change from recent cycles where the nominee was often effectively decided early.

Character matters, Trygve Hammer of Minot told a Souris Valley Dem-NPL gathering Monday, Jan. 19, in a celebration of the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. in Minot.

Democrat Trygve Hammer announced Monday he plans to run for North Dakota’s lone U.S. House seat for a second time.

Trygve Hammer is a retired Marine Corps officer and a veteran of the Global War on Terror. In his civilian life, he taught 7-12 grade science in a rural school, worked on oil rigs in the Bakken, as a freight rail conductor, and as a counselor for Job Corps in Minot.