Democrat · North Dakota at large · 2026
Trygve Hammer
Hammer has flown military helicopters, taught science in a rural school, worked oil rigs and conducted freight trains.
Biography
Trygve Hammer now works as a Job Corps counselor in Minot, helping young people get started in working life.1 After graduating from Velva High School, he enlisted in the Navy without a clear plan for what he wanted to study in college.1 An appointment from the fleet brought him to the Naval Academy's class of 1990.1
He chose a Marine commission, citing the service's ethic that officers eat last.1 His military work included helicopter flying, an embassy posting in Rome and teaching at the Naval Academy.1 He deployed to Iraq in 2003 as an infantry officer and forward air controller, and retired from the Marine Corps Reserve as a major in 2010.1
Hammer's civilian career has included airline flying, defense contracting and security consulting.1 After returning to North Dakota in 2016, he taught rural school science and worked on Bakken oil rigs and freight trains.1 His earlier campaigns included the state Legislature in 2020, Public Service Commission in 2022 and House in 2024.2
He again faces Republican Julie Fedorchak, alongside independents Helene Neville and Charles Tuttle, for North Dakota's single House seat.3 Hammer supports affordable healthcare, protecting Social Security benefits and requiring profitable corporations and wealthy people to contribute more in taxes.4 He also backs stronger congressional oversight of the presidency and congressional control over tariffs, alongside support for public schools and rural communities.4