Erling George Haugland, known as Curly Haugland, is an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...

man. He has served as the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fu ...

man for

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

since 1999. Haugland was elected chairman of the

North Dakota Republican Party The North Dakota Republican Party is the North Dakota affiliate of the United States Republican Party. Its platform is conservative. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling North Dakota's at-large U.S. House seat, both U.S. S ...

in 1999; he served one term and has since been elected to three four-year terms as committeeman.N.D. GOP activist might run for national chairman
''

Minot Daily News The ''Minot Daily News'' is an American daily newspaper, printed in downtown Minot, North Dakota. It originated as the ''Burlington Reporter'' and was published out of Burlington, then the county seat, until the early 20th century. It is the ...

'', April 14, 2008. Since 2009, Haugland has been a member of the RNC Rules Committee.Curly Haugland
, Republican National Committee official website. He previously served as an advisory board member for the

Bank of North Dakota The Bank of North Dakota (BND) is a state-owned, state-run financial institution based in Bismarck, North Dakota. It is the only government-owned general-service bank in the United States. It is the legal depository for all state funds in North ...

(1993-2000), and as Commissioner of the Northern Great Plains Rural Development Commission (1994-1996).

2008 campaign for chairman of the Republican National Committee

In 2008, Haugland set up an unsuccessful run for chairman of the Republican National Committee, in part because he was against a proposal that would allow an outsider to hold the position. Haugland was one of a group of RNC members who fought then-U.S. President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

’s move to install U.S. Senator

Mel Martinez Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

as the RNC chairman. Some members of the committee disliked what they said was Martinez’s lenient stance on

illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

. Haugland argued that the committee’s rules barred Martinez from serving as chairman because he was not one of its 168 members. The dispute ended in a compromise with

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

banker

Mike Duncan Robert Michael Duncan (born 1951) is a Kentucky Republican who served as the chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2007 to 2009. Throughout his career, he has served on the boards of a variety of public- and private-sector organizat ...

elected chairman, and Martinez given the title of "general chairman," a position not replaced when Martinez stepped down after only ten months in October 2007.

2016 Republican Party presidential primary election

As a member of the Republican Party's Rules Committee, throughout the party's 2016 presidential nominating process, Haugland has explained that it is the party's delegates, and not primary voters, who ultimately decide the party's nominee. Haugland explained: "The media has created the perception that the voters will decide the nomination...Political parties choose their nominee, not the general public, contrary to popular belief." In an April 2016 interview on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, Haugland said primary votes were irrelevant to a party's nomination process since the nomination for president is dependent solely on a simple majority of the vote of the permanently seated delegates to the national convention. In May 2016, ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

'' described Haugland as "the mainstream GOP’s last hope to deny Donald Trump the Republican nomination in Cleveland." In June 2016, Haugland and Sean Parnell co-authored a book, ''Unbound: The Conscience of a Republican Delegate''. The book, published by

Delegates Unbound Delegates Unbound is an American non-profit political organization established in 2016. According to the organization, the group is "working to bring long term reform to the Republican Party." The group also states that its "primary focus" is educ ...

, argues that "delegates are not bound to vote for any particular candidate based on primary and caucus results, state party rules, or even state law."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haugland, Curly 2016 United States Republican presidential primaries North Dakota Republicans American bankers Politicians from Bismarck, North Dakota Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Place of birth missing (living people)