Travisia Martin

The Truth
Behind Her Story


It is time to set the record straight regarding my campaign for North Dakota Insurance Commissioner in 2020. My story was not adequately told by the local media outlets and, in my opinion, there was a lot of hypocrisy in the courts rulings that prevented the citizens of North Dakota from having a choice in the election. I am proud to call North Dakota home and am honored to have had the privilege of running for state office. I am especially proud of making history by being the first African American candidate for statewide office in North Dakota.

North Dakota Democratic NPL Endorsement

Travisia Martin was the first African American woman to be endorsed by the Democtratic NPL in the state of North Dakota

Notice of Nomination

Travisia Martin nomination certificate

A LETTER TO MY FRIENDS, FAMILY AND THE PEOPLE OF NORTH DAKOTA:

I wanted to wait until after the election to address my residency issue that removed me from the ballot as the Democratic nominee for North Dakota Insurance commissioner. I am extremely proud of the fact that I was the first African American women to be nominated by the Democratic party in the history of North Dakota. My candidacy was based on my passion for improving the health care system in ND. I am not a politician but being a Respiratory Care Practitioner for the past 40 years would have been a tremendous asset in making a positive contribution to improving health care for the people of ND. The media and the Republican party gave the impression that I entered my campaign and intentionally ignored the residency issue. Both the District Court and the ND Supreme Court did not dispute that I resided in North Dakota for more than 5 years as required by North Dakota State law. The issue was that I voted in Nevada in 2016. At the time, I owned rental property in Las Vegas and admittingly legally voted there while I was visiting my parents. The petition to the secretary of State to be on the ballot for ND Insurance commissioner simply asked, Have you resided in ND for 5 years? I answered that question honestly. What is interesting is that after the ND Supreme Court removed me from the Ballot, they heard a similar case and allowed Terry Jones with the Republican party running for The North Dakota House from District 4 to stay on the Ballot even though he was a resident in Wyoming. Based on this, I cannot help but wonder if the courts decision on my case was politically or racially motivated.

It is unfortunate that because of the courts actions the citizens of North Dakota were not given a choice on who to vote for as Insurance commissioner. The voters should have been given the opportunity to choose who they wanted as insurance commissioner rather than have the money of the GOP make that decision for them. I feel bad for my fellow candidates that did not win their elections. It begs the question of what can the Democratic party in ND do to better represent our state? It is apparent to me that the party needs to completely restructure itself, so they are in a position to give better support to all the candidates that choose to represent the NPL. The truth is that the Executive Director of the NPL contacted the Secretary of States office prior to me entering the campaign regarding my eligibility and was told that my residency would not be a problem. Unfortunately, the conservative ND courts ruled in favor of the GOP based on a technicality of my voting in Nevada. It is obvious that John Godfread, our present insurance commissioner will do what he can to eliminate all competition as he seeks to undo healthcare gains like Medicaid expansion by supporting a reckless lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act as well as eliminate competition that would reduce insurance premiums. One has to wonder what he is afraid of. Maybe it is the fact that he has done nothing for the people of North Dakota. If he is truly representing the citizens of ND he would not have to be afraid of losing the election. Unfortunately, the only losers in all of this are the citizens of North Dakota.

The Official Ballot

North Dakota 2020 General Election ballot

Changes Made to the NPL Agreement
  Because of Travisa's efforts

NPL Mutual Support Agreement Revisions

A Note From a Friend and Supporter

A note from a friend

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