A statement in this dated press release from Byron Dorgan has some speculating that he is unlikely to return to North Dakota:

“I have written two books and have an invitation from a publisher to write two more books. I would like to do some teaching and would also like to work on energy policy in the private sector.”

That’s all fine and dandy. I read his first book, Take This Job And Ship It, and found it to basically be a bunch of campy anecdotes with the following simple message: Unions good. Business bad. Government necessary. Rob Port put it best when he described it as “a study in economic illiteracy.”

As Senator Dorgan’s term in office comes to an end, that press release has led a Washington Examiner columnist to speculate that Byron will become a lobbyist rather than returning to the state he’s called home for all these years.

And what of his desire to teach and work “in the private sector” (ie, pad his pockets as a lobbyist or “consultant”)? Somehow I doubt that will bring him back to the shoebox apartment (owned by Kent Conrad) pictured above.

I’ve long surmised that Dorgan and Conrad simply kept these little apartments, with their olive green appliances and ratty, hand-labeled mailboxes, for the sole purpose of keeping a North Dakota address on paper for residency…thereby providing them eligibility to run for re-election as North Dakotans. With that no longer necessary, I suspect somebody else may soon be occupying Apartment Number Six.

That’s good, because the LLC which Gaylord Kent Conrad (GKC) owns and sold his apartment buildings to for $1.00 could probably use the income. There’s a recall effort underway regarding the Senator, and Politico has an interesting note about Senator Conrad:

“The 62-year-old Conrad said he’s deciding ‘whether or not I want to do this another eight years.'”

Of course, I wouldn’t expect Kent Conrad to return to North Dakota, either. Not when he’s got a million dollar house on a Delaware beach that didn’t show up on his financial disclosure reports.

These two have been masquerading as North Dakotans while living the life of Washington DC insiders for far too long. We’ve reclaimed one office in the Senate, one in the House, and it’s time to take back our remaining seat in the US Senate. Chances are you won’t see these guys hanging out on East Central Avenue once that happens.