BISMARCK, ND. (KCND Radio) -- The North Dakota Farm Bureau is running its own candidate for Agriculture Commissioner.
The Farm Bureau is backing Warwick farmer and registered nurse Judy Estenson for the GOP Ag Commissioner nod.
She would challenge incumbent Doug Goehring for the party’s backing.
Pete Hanebutt, the Farm Bureau’s Director of Public Policy says the bureau has lost confidence in Goehring's leadership ability.
He also says Goehring has made some personal conduct choices within his office regarding the way he treats his staff.
Hanebutt would not elaborate, but Goehring says there have been a few incidents with staff that have been investigated.
Goehring once referred to female staffers as a “harem.”
He also said one young woman staffer was like a “babe in the woods.”
He says he once asked another female staffer to walk on his back, because he was having back pain.
Goehring says he believes it’s a select few members of the Farm Bureau who are pushing this.
He says he still has a lot of friends in the agriculture community.