The biggest oil companies in North Dakota are putting money into the race for state agriculture commissioner, says Reuters. It’s not an oddball choice – the agriculture commissioner, along with the governor and the attorney general, sits on the Industrial Commission, which oversees permits “and other issues critical to the oil industry, which hopes to drill 35,000 new wells within 15 years,” says the story. The Democratic nominee, Ryan Taylor, supports more regulation of the industry. Reuters quotes him as saying, “We want the oil, but we also want productive land when it’s all done.”
Incumbent Doug Goehring, a Republican, says if he is re-elected, the oil industry would see a “balanced approach to the all issues, including regulation.” Goehring won office with 68 percent of the vote in 2010. Political scientists say the race is too close to call three months before election day.