Plain Talk With Rob Port

On this episode of Plain Talk, Chad Oban and I spent some time talking about the column in which I outed myself as a Kamala Harris voter. Or, more accurately, I spent some time expanding on my explanation, and Chad listened. But the more important part of this episode was our conversation with Sen. Michelle Axtman, a Republican from Bismarck who is something of a rising star in her party (she was transparent about her ambitions during our off-air conversation, saying her goal is to be elected governor one day). Axtman is heading up a legislative tax force on the school choice issue that has drawn some heat for not being as open as it should be to the public, and some criticssay  (including Chad, who works for North Dakota United) not including as wide a swath of education stakeholders as it could have. Axtman took those questions, and answered them, but also delivered a clearer picture of just what it is they're working on. School choice is a fraught topic because, when most people think about it, their minds