The 2016 North Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2016, to elect the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and

Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota The lieutenant governor of North Dakota is a political office in North Dakota. The lieutenant governor's duty is to preside as President of the Senate, and is responsible for legislative relations, the state budget and agribusiness development. ...

, concurrently with the

2016 U.S. presidential election The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...

, as well as

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

and various state and local elections. This would have been the first time North Dakotans selected a Governor under new voter ID requirements, in which a student ID was insufficient identification to vote, but a court ruling in August 2016 struck the down the provision; the election was held under the 2013 rules. The primaries took place on June 14. This is the first open seat election since

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

. Incumbent

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Jack Dalrymple John Stewart Dalrymple III (born October 16, 1948) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 32nd Governor of North Dakota from 2010 to 2016. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th Lieutenant Governo ...

announced that he would not run for re-election to a second full term in office.

Doug Burgum Douglas James Burgum (born August 1, 1956) is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and politician serving as the 33rd governor of North Dakota since 2016. He is a member of the Republican Party. Burgum was born and raised in the small to ...

(R) defeated

Marvin Nelson Marvin Nelson (born June 1, 1958) is an American politician from the state of North Dakota. He serves in the North Dakota House of Representatives as a member of the North Dakota Democratic-Nonpartisan League Party. Nelson has served in the North ...

(DNPL) in the general election to become the new Governor of North Dakota.

Background

In December 2010, Republican Governor

John Hoeven John Henry Hoeven III ( ; born March 13, 1957) is an American banker and politician serving as the senior U.S. senator from North Dakota, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Hoeven served as the 31st governor of Nort ...

resigned after being

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

to the U.S. Senate. Jack Dalrymple, the Lieutenant Governor, was sworn in as Governor and was elected to a full term in 2012. In August 2015, Dalrymple announced that he would not run for re-election to a second full term in office.

Republican primary

The North Dakota Republican Party endorsed

North Dakota Attorney General The North Dakota Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the North Dakota state government. The Attorney General's office represents the state government in court cases and issues opinions of points of law upon request. Drew Wrigley was app ...

Wayne Stenehjem Wayne Stenehjem ( ; February 5, 1953 – January 28, 2022) was an American lawyer and politician from the U.S. state of North Dakota. He was the Attorney General of the state, serving from December 15, 2000 until his death. He sought the Republi ...

at their April 2-3 state convention, however ballot access was actually determined by the June 14th primary election, which former Microsoft executive

won.

Candidates

Endorsed

**Running mate:

Nicole Poolman Nicole Poolman is a former Republican member of the North Dakota Senate, representing the 7th district. Poolman was first elected in 2012, defeating Democrat Warren Emmer. In the 2016 North Dakota gubernatorial election, she was chosen the running ...

, State Senator and wife of Jim Poolman

Other candidates

, former Senior Vice President of

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

and former Chairman & CEO of

Great Plains Software Great Plains Software was an accounting software company located in Fargo, North Dakota, whose products focused on small to medium-sized businesses. It was founded in 1981, went public in 1997, and was purchased by Microsoft Microsoft Cor ...

** Running mate: Brent Sanford, Watford City Mayor * Paul Sorum, architect ** Running mate: Michael Coachman, human resources executive

Withdrawn

* Rick Becker, state representative

Declined

* Tom Campbell, state senator *

Kevin Cramer Kevin John Cramer (born January 21, 1961) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator for North Dakota since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he represented North Dakota's at-large congressional distri ...

, U.S. Representative *

, incumbent Governor *

Ed Schafer Edward Thomas Schafer (born August 8, 1946) is an American businessman and politician who was the 30th governor of North Dakota from 1992 to 2000. Schafer also served as the 29th United States Secretary of Agriculture from 2008 to 2009, appoint ...

, former Governor and former

United States Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments. The department includes several organi ...

Kelly Schmidt Kelly Schmidt (born August 26, 1962) is an American politician who served as the 33rd North Dakota treasurer from 2005 to 2021. She is the longest-serving treasurer in North Dakota's history and a member of the Republican Party Republican Party ...

North Dakota State Treasurer The North Dakota State Treasurer is a political office in North Dakota. The treasurer's duty is to assure sound financial oversight and absolute safety of all public funds collected, managed, and disbursed. The Office of the State Treasurer is sepa ...

(running for re-election) *

Drew Wrigley Drew Howard Wrigley (born October 10, 1965) is an American attorney, lawyer, and politician from North Dakota. Wrigley currently serves as the attorney general of North Dakota after being appointed to the position by Governor Doug Burgum followin ...

, Lieutenant Governor

Polling

Republican State Convention

To endorse a candidate, delegates to the Republican state convention voted for one candidate in a series of rounds. After the first round, all candidates would remain on the ballot, but after subsequent rounds of voting, the recipient of the lowest number of votes would be removed. The first candidate to receive more than half the cast vote would receive the state party endorsement. After no candidate received the majority in the first round, a second round of voting was completed, in which enough delegates voted for Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem to give him the endorsement without having to remove a candidate from the ballot or vote again.

Republican primary results

North Dakota Gubernatorial Republican Primary 2016

Democratic primary

Candidates

Endorsed

, state representative ** Running mate: Joan Heckaman, state senator

Declined

* Ellen Chaffee, nominee for lieutenant governor in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

Heidi Heitkamp Mary Kathryn "Heidi" Heitkamp ( ; born October 30, 1955) is an American politician who served as a United States senator from North Dakota from 2013 to 2019. A member of the North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party, she was the first wom ...

, U.S. Senator and nominee for governor in 2000 * Tim Mathern, State Senator and nominee for governor in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

* Tracy Potter, former state senator, nominee for U.S. Senate in 2010 and nominee for Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2012 * George B. Sinner, State Senator and nominee for

North Dakota's at-large congressional district North Dakota's at-large congressional district is the sole congressional district for the state of North Dakota. Based on size, it is the eighth largest congressional district in the nation. The district is currently represented by Kelly Armstro ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

* Ryan Taylor,

USDA Rural Development USDA Rural Development (RD) is a mission area within the United States Department of Agriculture which runs programs intended to improve the economy and quality of life in rural parts of the United States. Rural Development has a loan portfolio o ...

State Director, former state senator, nominee for governor in

and nominee for Agriculture Commissioner in

Sarah Vogel Sarah Vogel is a North Dakota farm advocate, author, former politician, and lawyer who served as the North Dakota Commissioner of Agriculture from 1989 to 1997. As a lawyer, she specialized in agricultural law. Early life and education Sarah was ...

, former

North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner In the U.S. state of North Dakota, the Agriculture Commissioner, formerly known as the Commissioner, is an elected official who heads the North Dakota Department of Agriculture. The present commissioner is Doug Goehring, a Republican. The offic ...

and candidate for the

North Dakota Supreme Court The North Dakota Supreme Court is the highest court of law in the state of North Dakota. The Court rules on questions of law in appeals from the state's district courts. Each of the five justices are elected on a no-party ballot for ten year te ...

in 1996

Results

Libertarian Party

Candidates

Endorsed

*Marty Riske, businessman and former state party chairman **Running mate: Joshua Voytek

Results

General election

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 10, 2016 - C-SPAN

Predictions

Polling

Results

References

External links

Doug Burgum (R) for GovernorMarvin Nelson (D) for Governor
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States Gubernatorial Elections, 2016

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...