02-04-2025
Young North Dakota legislators join Future Caucus to find bipartisan solutions
From the left: Layla Zidane, president of the Future Caucus, Rep. Dawson Holle, R-Mandan, Rep. Jayme Davis, D-Rolette, Sen. Ryan Braunberger, D-Fargo, and Sen. Claire Cory, R-Grand Forks, announce the formation of the North Dakota chapter of the Future Caucus on April 1, 2025. The Future Caucus is a group of millennial and Gen-Z lawmakers dedicated to finding bipartisan solutions. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
Four North Dakota lawmakers announced they will be joining the national Future Caucus made up of millennial and Gen-Z legislators with hopes of finding bipartisan solutions to common problems.
North Dakota is the 36th state to join the Future Caucus, which began in 2013 and includes more than 1,900 young lawmakers nationwide.
Co-chairs for the North Dakota chapter are Rep. Jayme Davis, D-Rolette, Rep. Dawson Holle, R-Mandan, Sen. Claire Cory, R-Grand Forks, and Sen. Ryan Braunberger, D-Fargo.
'These leaders represent the best of North Dakota,' said Layla Zidane, president of the Future Caucus.
She added North Dakota has a longstanding tradition of putting people above politics, which is exactly what the Future Caucus is trying to achieve – focusing on real solutions, not partisan fights.
'We're not bringing in outside priorities,' Zidane said. 'But really amplifying the amazing leadership that is already here.'
She said members of the Future Caucus helped pass more than 2,000 pieces of legislation across the country in 2024.
Holle said he initially ran for the Legislature in 2022 to advocate for family farms, small businesses and helping his community.
'In North Dakota's future, I know that our greatest strength comes from working together, not against each other,' Holle said. 'Too often, ideas are judged not on their merit, but on who proposed them and that is not leadership. That is not service and that is not what North Dakotans expect or deserve.'
Holle said the caucus wants to ensure the next generation of leaders is able to come together and facilitate the difficult conversations to find solutions.
Braunberger said he hopes the caucus brings people toward the ideological middle instead of the extreme-right or extreme-left.
'We are not always going to agree on every issue, but we're going to come together on issues that we can,' Braunberger said. He added he believes the caucus will make lawmakers more productive by being able to have civil discourse with members of the opposing party.
Sen. Claire Cory, R-Grand Forks, said she and Braunberger don't agree on many issues, but the caucus gives them an avenue to talk productively.
'Not to say that I don't do that with other lawmakers, but being able to do it with people in my generation is different,' Cory said.
Even as a Republican in a conservative state like North Dakota, Cory said she has constituents who didn't vote for her and she still needs to represent them.
She added she hopes the caucus will help her understand issues from a more well-rounded perspective so she can be a better representative for all of her constituents.
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