BISMARCK—North Dakota House Majority Leader Chet Pollert, R-Dis. 29, Carrington, today announced he will retire from the legislature when his term expires near the end of this year. Rep. Pollert has served in the House since 1999 and has served as House Majority Leader since 2018.
“It’s time.” Chet Pollert, R-Dis. 29, Carrington
“It’s time,” said Pollert. He also called serving in legislative leadership “the hardest job I’ve ever done.”
Rep. Pollert placed himself in the center of a firestorm in the legislature this past spring when he co-sponsored HR 5001 to expel former Republican Rep. Luke Simons, Dickinson, who had been serving District 36 since 2017. Simons had been accused of threatening and sexually harassing women at the Capitol.
Simons’ ousting by the body was unprecedented, especially given that House members in the floor debate on that resolution at the time claimed Simons’ removal took place without proper due process and in violation of the House’s own rules.
Rep. Pollert took heat from his own party again later in the year during the week-long legislative special session. On the first day of that session, any contested bills that failed to advance out of the House Delayed Bills Committee failed in a 3-2 vote in which Rep. Pollert voted along with the two Democrats on the committee and against his own assistant majority leader and the house speaker. That pattern, along with the passing of the controversial redistricting plan, prompted another Republican legislator, Rep. Jeff Hoverson, R-Dis. 3, Minot, to openly challenge Rep. Pollert’s leadership on the House floor, for which comments Rep. Hoverson later apologized.
Not everyone was dissatisfied with Rep. Pollert’s leadership. In a statement released after Rep. Pollert’s announcement, Governor Doug Burgum stated, “We are deeply grateful to Rep. Pollert for his more than two decades of service to the citizens of District 29 and his strong and steady leadership in the House.”
“We are deeply grateful to Rep. Pollert for his more than two decades of service to the citizens of District 29 and his strong and steady leadership in the House.” Gov. Doug Burgum, R-ND
Gov. Burgum added, “[Rep. Pollert’s] principled approach to challenging issues and his lack of gamesmanship have earned him the respect of his colleagues and certainly of this office.”
U.S. Senator John Hoeven, R-ND, also issued a statement in which he described Rep. Pollert as "a dedicated public servant." Sen. Hoeven also stated, "Further, the leadership he has provided as House Majority Leader has helped our state navigate a range of challenges in recent years."
Combined with Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner’s own announcement last month, both houses of the North Dakota legislature will have new majority leaders after this coming November’s elections.
