Fedorchak rallies Republican voters at Red, Wine and Blue event

The annual Red, Wine, and Blue Social on Thursday, Oct. 29, featured keynote speaker U.S. Rep. Julie Fedorchak.

The Red, Wine, and Blue Social was a pre-Election Day event that hosted Fedorchak, North Dakota's representative in the U.S. House. She is running for reelection in the 2026 general election. Along with Fedorchak, special guests spoke, including statewide officials and Lt. Gov. Michelle Strinden.

The event was held from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Old Broadway in downtown Fargo. Guests arrived and entered through the south entrance. Guests could park for free at the NP Parking Garage. A donation jar sat by the guest entrance, and free pizza was provided.

The North Dakota Federation of Republican Women hosted the event. The organization describes itself as the educational arm of the Republican Party in North Dakota. According to the organization, it does not endorse candidates before they are chosen but supports them through educational tools and mentoring opportunities.

Linda Butts, the state federation president, attended. She felt the evening was beneficial for the upcoming general election.

"It brings out the base. We also get the opportunity to increase their enthusiasm right before the election. Hopefully, like all of the candidates said, if you liked what you saw tonight, go tell five friends and take those five friends to the polls. So there are multiple reasons to hold an occasion like this. You know, I have read that a voter needs to hear about a candidate five times, whether it's through a phone call, something in the mail or in person," Butts said.

During the event, Fedorchak urged constituents in the audience to bring their friends to the polls and spread the word about the election. She spoke about the choice North Dakotans will face in the upcoming election.

"So for North Dakota, there's a choice to be made: Do we want to continue supporting pro-growth, pro-business, pro-law enforcement candidates like myself and the whole slate of Republican candidates, or do we want to pivot and make a change all the way through to the legislature? When I was in college, there were no jobs in North Dakota. Everybody had to leave this state to start a career, and that has now completely turned around. How we turned that around was by following, very diligently, conservative principles of creating a good, strong business climate with low taxes and reasonable regulatory oversight to incentivize businesses to invest. We really doubled down on developing natural resources, like the oil and the gas, our coal resources and then investing in tech, in aerospace, in unmanned craft and these new growing industries. North Dakota is one of the top states in the nation for coming and starting a business. And that has been because of Republican leadership and conservative principles at play in our state," Fedorchak said.

She also said voting is a great responsibility for American citizens and one people should take part in.

"Voting is one of your top rights as an American citizen, and it's also a great responsibility. We live in the greatest country on planet Earth. And it's because of the rights that we have, that start with voting, to live independently, to have the freedom and liberty that our founding fathers and mothers came here to try and create. You can only continue that if every generation accepts their responsibility to be involved, engaged and going to vote. And so that is what's at stake, and that's at stake in this election as much as it ever has been," Fedorchak said.

Butts hoped attendees would leave the event with a message from the night.

"We are closer to turning over power to those who have a socialist [bent] than we've ever been in the history of our country. And the younger generation is being taught in school that somehow socialism is a very wonderful and acceptable form of government. And so, tonight, when Julie talked about it, we talk about the risk. We understand the risk. And so, we need to find a way to explain to the younger generation that's being taught that it's not just this little benign structure of government where they kind of equalize things. I take money from you, and I give it over here. But that completely denies human behavior.

"You know, you work because you want to be rewarded for your work. That's just the tip of the iceberg of what could go wrong. So I think something like this, Julie's message, we all go home with a sobering thought that, you know, we aren't [impervious] to having socialism creep into our governmental structures. And then, number two, you always worry about more riots in the streets. Like that summer, where they burned the cities. I mean, that's another worry for us.

"So I think people take away from this hope. I think they take away enthusiasm. Many people have gotten to see friends, and hopefully they'll take this home and talk about it and get people to turn out and vote, 'cause that's what it is at the end of the day," Butts said.

While the event featured guest speakers, it also allowed people to socialize and ask questions of elected officials.

While the Red, Wine, and Blue Social has ended, the upcoming election remains the focus. North Dakota's general election will take place Tuesday, Nov. 3, with voters deciding races for the U.S. House, state House, state Senate, state Supreme Court and more, along with ballot measures.