Janne Myrdal | |
---|---|
Member of the North Dakota Senate from the 19th district | |
Assumed office December 1, 2022 | |
Preceded by | Robert Fors |
Member of the North Dakota Senate from the 10th district | |
In office December 1,2016 –December 1,2022 | |
Preceded by | Joe Miller |
Succeeded by | Ryan Braunberger |
Personal details | |
Born | Skien,Telemark,Norway | May 4,1962
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Mark D. Myrdal (m. 1994) |
Children | 3 |
Residence | Edinburg,North Dakota |
Profession | Homemaker |
Janne Myrdal (born May 4,1962 [1] ) is a Republican member of the North Dakota Senate,representing the 19th district. Myrdal was first elected in 2016 to the 10th district,and re-elected in 2020. She is known for her anti-abortion activism [2] and opposition to LGBTQ rights. [3]
Myrdal was born in Telemark,Norway in 1962 where she lived until completing high school. [4] She then decided to travel to Texas for a year to do humanitarian work as a Christian to help refugees. There she met Mark,an American farmer from North Dakota,who she married in Skien,Norway in 1994. They have three children who they raised on the family farm in rural Edinburg where Myrdal is a homemaker. [5]
Before becoming a member of the North Dakota Senate,Myrdal was an anti-abortion activist,heading the anti-abortion group ND Choose Life. [6] Additionally,Myrdal is the former director of the North Dakota chapter of Concerned Women for America,a conservative activist group which opposes LGBTQ rights. [3]
In January 2017,Myrdal co-sponsored House Bill 1185,which would have classified all internet-connected devices as "pornographic vending machines" that must make unavailable any "obscene material and obscene performances" unless the end user of such a device requests an opt-out in writing and pays the state a $20 opt-out fee. [7] Facing international ridicule,the cosponsors dropped the bill from further consideration. [8]
Also in January 2017,Myrdal re-shared an article on her personal Facebook page that criticized LGBT opposition to then-president-elect Donald Trump. The accompanying image featured a rainbow flag that had been defaced with a swastika. Upon claiming to learn about the image,Myrdal immediately deleted the post and apologized for what she claimed was a mistake. [9]
In January 2019,Myrdal cosponsored a bill to require physicians to tell women the falsehood that it is possible to reverse a drug-induced abortion. Myrdal said the bill was about providing options to pregnant women,but the head of the state's sole abortion clinic said the claim was not backed by science. [10] The bill did become law,but was blocked by a federal judge on the grounds that it required doctors to lie to their patients. [11]
In November 2020,Myrdal was re-elected to a second term in the Senate with 74% of the vote. [12] Myrdal has the potential to be re-elected twice more before being forced to retire from the North Dakota Senate,following the approval of Measure 1.
In 2021,Myrdal introduced legislation which sought to defund North Dakota State University for undertaking a longtime research project on youth sex education. [13]
Myrdal supported the so-called anti-trans Senate Bill 2231 [14] which would prohibit government entities from mandating employees to call people by their preferred pronouns and would also require teachers to get approval from both parents and administrators before using that student's pronouns if they're different from the student's sex at birth;Myrdal said of it,”[Teachers] came to me in the interim,and said,‘We are worried that we’re going to get fired because we have to violate our first constitutional rights of freedom of religion and freedom of speech by naming a child something that they're not.’When they feel like that's helping them and their mental dysphoria toward death's door." [14]
Mydral introduced SCR 4013,which tightened the North Dakota constitutional initiative process,and was passed 44-3. [15]
Myrdal faced criticism when Reverend Dr. Leanne Simmons was praying over the Senate on February 8;Senators Myrdal and Michael Wobbema (R-Valley City) turned their backs to her while she was saying “Creator of the universe and all people therein,You who formed humankind in Your image,placing them in this world in all their diversity —differing colors,genders,races,ethnicities and language. We praise You for the splendor of Your creation and the love that motivated Your hand on this Earth”. Myrdal told KFR-TV S:“People lobbying from the prayer pulpit is something we don't believe in.” [16]
Since 1994,she has been married to Mark Myrdal (b. 1954), [1] a farmer in Edinburg,North Dakota,who is of Norwegian descent. They married at Skien,Telemark,Norway and have three children.
Telemark is a traditional region,a former county,and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020,Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional regions and former counties of Vestfold,Buskerud,Hordaland,Rogaland and Aust-Agder.
John Henry Hoeven III is an American banker and politician serving as the senior U.S. senator from North Dakota,a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party,Hoeven served as the 31st governor of North Dakota from 2000 to 2010.
Mary Kathryn"Heidi" Heitkamp is an American politician who served as a United States senator from North Dakota from 2013 to 2019. A member of the North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party,she was the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from North Dakota. Heitkamp served as the 28th North Dakota attorney general from 1992 to 2000 and 20th North Dakota tax commissioner from 1986 to 1992. As of 2023,she is the last Democrat to have represented North Dakota in Congress,and the last to hold statewide office.
Myrdal is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Richard Alan Berg is an American businessman and politician who served as the U.S. representative for North Dakota's at-large congressional district from 2011 to 2013. Berg served on the House Ways and Means Committee. He is a member of the Republican Party. Before his election to Congress in 2010,he served in the state North Dakota House of Representatives,with stints as majority leader and speaker. On May 16,2011,Berg announced his run for the United States Senate seat being vacated by Democratic incumbent Kent Conrad but lost narrowly to Heidi Heitkamp on November 6,2012.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) persons in the U.S. state of North Dakota may face some legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity is legal in North Dakota,and same-sex couples and families headed by same-sex couples are eligible for all of the protections available to opposite-sex married couples;same-sex marriage has been legal since June 2015 as a result of Obergefell v. Hodges. State statutes do not address discrimination on account of sexual orientation or gender identity;however,the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County established that employment discrimination against LGBT people is illegal under federal law.
Gun laws in North Dakota regulate the sale,possession,and use of firearms and ammunition in the state of North Dakota in the United States.
Kylie Oversen is an American politician in the Democratic-NPL. She served as a member of the North Dakota House of Representatives,representing the 42nd district from January 2013 to December 2016. The 42nd district is located in the northern portion of Grand Forks and includes the University of North Dakota.
Kathy Hogan is a Democratic-NPL politician in North Dakota. She is a member of the North Dakota Senate,representing the 21st District since 2018. She also represented the district in the North Dakota House of Representatives,serving from 2009 to 2018. She served as House Assistant Minority Leader from 2017 to 2018. In 2018,she announced she would give up her House seat to run to represent the same district in the North Dakota Senate,which she won in November.
The state of North Dakota has improved in its treatment of lesbian,gay,bisexual and transgender residents in the late 1990s and into the 21st Century,when the LGBT community began to openly establish events,organizations and outlets for fellow LGBT residents and allies,and increase in political and community awareness.
Douglas James Burgum is an American businessman,investor,philanthropist,and politician serving since 2016 as the 33rd governor of North Dakota. A member of the Republican Party,Burgum was the president of Great Plains Software and is a candidate in the 2024 United States presidential election.
The 2018 United States Senate election in North Dakota took place on November 6,2018,to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of North Dakota,concurrently with other elections to the U.S. Senate,as well as other federal,state and local elections in North Dakota.
The 2018 United States House of Representatives election in North Dakota was held on November 6,2018,to elect the U.S. representative for North Dakota's at-large congressional district. The election coincided with the U.S. Senate election,as well as other statewide,legislative,and local elections.
Vestfold og Telemark is a county under disestablishment in Norway. The county is the southernmost one of Eastern Norway and consists of two distinct and separate traditional regions:the former counties of Telemark and Vestfold. The capital is located at the town of Skien,which is also the county's largest city. While Skien is the seat of the county municipality,the seat of the County Governor is Tønsberg. It borders the counties of Viken,Vestland,Rogaland and Agder.
Shannon Roers Jones is an American attorney and politician. She served in the North Dakota House of Representatives from the 46th district since December 1,2016. She was the North Dakota House Republican Caucus Chairperson from 2019 to 2021.
Kristin Roers is an American politician. She is a member of the North Dakota State Senate from the 27th District,elected in 2018. She is a member of the Republican party.
Michael A. Wobbema is a Republican serving as a member of the North Dakota Senate from the 24th district. Elected in November 2020,he assumed office on December 1,2020.
Douglas "Doug" Larsen is an American politician and businessman serving as a member of the North Dakota Senate from the 34th district. Elected in November 2020,he assumed office on December 1,2020.
Michelle Strinden is an American politician serving as a member of the North Dakota House of Representatives from the 41st district. Elected in November 2018,she assumed office on December 1,2018.
James P. "Jim" Roers is an American politician and businessman serving as a member of the North Dakota Senate from the 46th district. He assumed office on December 1,2016.