The former North Dakota Republican Party chairman has a new job trying to build up support in the state for a national balanced budget amendment.
Gary Emineth is the state chairman of Pass the Balanced Budget Amendment, a Phoenix-based group that's working to gather 5,000 to 10,000 voter signatures in all 435 congressional districts "demanding fiscal accountability from their leaders," according to a news release.
The group also is working with state legislatures in North Dakota and several other states to pass resolutions supporting a balanced budget amendment.
Chairman Ken Blackwell said in a written statement today that Emineth "will be instrumental in our grassroots mission of educating and mobilizing citizens in North Dakota who are concerned with the burden of debt they are forcing on their children."
Blackwell said Emineth's work with tea party activists and his time as state GOP chairman -- a position he held from 2007 until last summer -- makes him "a valuable asset" to the national campaign.
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"Like me, he has a background in building businesses and creating jobs, and he knows how important it is to balance the books and stay within a budget," he said.
Emineth said in a written statement that North Dakotans saw a "sea change" in their delegation during the 2010 elections -- Republicans John Hoeven and Rick Berg replaced long-time Democratic incumbents Byron Dorgan and Earl Pomeroy.
And Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., announced earlier this year that he won't run for re-election to a sixth term in the Senate in 2012.
"Now Sen. Conrad sees the writing on the wall and will be leaving too," Emineth wrote. "We need to make sure that anyone seeking the nomination to serve in the Senate is absolutely committed to supporting a (balanced budget amendment)."
Emineth served as the state Republican Party's chairman from 2007 until the summer of 2010. He also is chief executive officer of Green Chile Foods, a New Mexico food company that he and a group of investors bought last year.
