Roland Riemers

Roland Riemers
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Candidate for
Governor of North Dakota
Party	Libertarian
Military service
Service/branch	U.S. Air Force
Websites
Personal website

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Roland Riemers ran in the general election for Governor of North Dakota in the 2012 as an independently nominated candidate. His running mate was Anthony Johns.

He was originally running as a Libertarian, but was disqualified from the ballot on July 5, 2012 by Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem.

Biography

Riemers was born in Lake City, Minnesota and grew up on a dairy farm in Forest Lake, MN. After graduating from high school, he served four years in the U.S. Air Force as a medic and eight years in the North Dakota National Guard and Army Reserve. Riemers is currently self-employed in property management and investment, and has worked in the past as an engineering technician, utilityman, Registered Nurse, third grade teacher, and alternative energy expert.

Education

• AS, Nursing
• BS, Industrial technology
• Attended the University of North Dakota Law School

Elections

2012

See also: North Dakota gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2012

Riemers ran as an independent nominee for governor in 2012. His running mate was Anthony Johns. They faced incumbent Jack Dalrymple & Drew Wrigley (R), Ryan Taylor & Ellen Chaffee (D), and fellow independent challengers Paul Sorum & Michael Coachman in the general election on November 6, 2012. They were defeated by incumbents Dalrymple and Wrigley.

Post-primary disqualification

Riemers was the 2012 Libertarian nominee for Governor of North Dakota. He and Richard Ames filed their joint candidacy with the North Dakota Secretary of State, but Ames' application was missing a page and deemed invalid. Riemers ran by himself in the primary election and received more than the requisite 300 votes to appear on the general election ballot, but before Secretary of State Al Jaeger certified the results of the primary, he sought an opinion from Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem. According to the state constitution, the governor and lieutenant governor must be elected on a joint ballot. Stenehjem, citing the North Dakota Century Code and the constitution, ruled that Riemers' candidacy was invalid because there was no lieutenant governor candidate on the ballot with him.

Issues

Riemers' professed goal of his campaign was to "offer the voting public an alternative to politics as usual and to stimulate debate on the issues as well as helping to built up the Libertarian Party as a viable alternative for future years." He has challenged his two opponents - who he calls professional politicians - to "name even one instance they have stood up against their political interests and loudly defended our rights and freedoms."

Riemers took the following issue positions:

• Proposition II: "Firmly supports repeal of property taxes. And while it may take some legislative work and a lot of adjustments, he is confident a fair means will eventually be found to replace property taxes. And if additional money is needed locally, it can be raised by a local sales or income tax. His view is that FUBAR property taxes have been the cash cow of local government for too long and it is time to send this cow to the slaughter house."
• Abortion: "Solidly pro choice, and encourages birth control and zero population growth and the decreasing of green house gases. Riemers has seen too many neglected and starving children in this world. Riemers has watched children sniff airplane glue to suppress their hunger pains or lay down on the street to eat some garbage squished into the pavement because of birth control and poverty."
• Civil Rights: Riemers "is the ONLY governor candidate with a track record of being willing to stand in harms way to promote the rights of all, and opposes special rights for any group. He would like to see a private right of legal action when laws or civil rights are violated and the local prosecutor is unwilling or unable to prosecute."
• Family Rights: Riemers "has actively supported shared parenting initiatives and reform of family laws so that men and women are treated equally and fairly by the courts. He believes current child support laws are unconstitutionally structured and enforced. Support obligors should not face debtor prison when they are unable to make mandatory support payments. Child visitation must be actively enforced. And property and debts personally acquired before or after marriage should be that person’s separate property or debt during and after marriage."
• Patriot Act: "Riemers totally opposed as it is more for oppressing then (sic) defending Americans."
• Gun Control: "Supports the right to bear arms for self defense and defense of family, property, and for lawful hunting, recreational, and other lawful purposes."
• Criminal justice: "- he is concerned with the increasing number of Americans being put into jail. It seems the legislative solution to every social problem is a life sentence. Jail and watch lists should be for the worse of the worse, and reform should be our goal for the rest. He is especially concerned that more and more children (as young as 9) are being made life time criminals while at the same time government agents are granted immunity for their illegal actions. He also believes that any public official who violates their oath of office by not supporting the state and Federal Constitution, should be criminally charged with perjury. He would also like the state to actively fight cybercrime Generally it seems officials like to portray all Americans as either saints or sinners with all the sinners placed behind bars. But in the real world we are all a mixture of saint and sinner, and if our sins were all known then we would all likely be in jail. Thus we have to allow for some human stupidity and forgive those who have made mistakes."
• Size of government: "Less government, less taxes and more freedom. Riemers would like the size and budget of state government decreased by 10% a year."
• Education: "More emphasis on education instead of socialization. Supports vouchers for those who don’t want public education. Supports getting university professors back into the classrooms instead of living the elite academia life style. Supports lowering the cost of higher education."
• Water Resource: "The state must built structures and programs to get water where it is needed, and away from where it isn’t. If ancient Romans could transfer water hundreds of miles with slave built aqueducts, we certainly should be able to do better then we do now."
• Energy: "We should encourage additional transmission lines to move our wind generated electricity. But, for a long term energy solution and to decrease greenhouse gases this country needs dependable 24 hour a day renewable electricity, and that can only be had with geothermal power. Riemers would also like to see a slow- down of North Dakota oil development so it can be better managed."
• Military bases: While it is nice to have them here, there really is no need for two large Air Force bases in North Dakota, and the only reason we still have two bases is due to the political muscle of our senators and not because our country needs them. Riemers believes one of the bases should be closed."

See also

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• North Dakota gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2012
• Governor of North Dakota

External links

Suggest a link

• Riemers' blog