Tracy Potter (born June 23, 1950) is an American historian, politician and member of the

North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

. He represented District 35 in the

North Dakota Senate The North Dakota Senate is the upper house of the North Dakota Legislative Assembly, smaller than the North Dakota House of Representatives. Per the state constitution, North Dakota is divided into between 40 and 54 legislative districts appor ...

from 2006 to 2010 and was the Democratic nominee for the

U.S. 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 powe ...

in 2010 and for

Superintendent of Public Instruction A state education agency or state department of education is the state-level government organization within each U.S. state or territory responsible for education, including providing information, resources, and technical assistance on educationa ...

in 2012. From 1993 to 2015, he served as executive director of The Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation. Potter earned BA and MA degrees in History from the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of ...

. From 1993 to 2015, he was executive director of the

Fort Abraham Lincoln Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park is a North Dakota state park located south of Mandan, North Dakota, United States. The park is home to the replica Mandan On-A-Slant Indian Village and reconstructed military buildings including the Custer House. ...

Foundation, and was President of the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation. Potter was awarded the GNDA Tourism Development Award in 1997, and Tourism Industry Leader Award in 2005. He is active in Rotary. Potter was mentioned as a potential candidate for insurance commissioner, but he lacked interest in the position, saying "When I first saw (the opening), it got the competitive juices flowing, and I thought I could win," he said. "But then I realized that if I did win, I would be insurance commissioner." Potter had previously worked for the insurance department from 1978 to 1980 and ran unsuccessfully for the position in 1984. He was elected to the State Senate in 2006, narrowly defeating Republican State Representative Margaret Sitte. He did not run for re-election in 2010, instead running for the U.S. Senate, losing to 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 No ...

. Potter ran as an independent for the no-party

North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction The North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction oversees the operations of the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction. The Superintendent enforces state and federal statutes and regulations regarding public schools and related program ...

, to fill the vacancy left by Wayne Sanstead, who retired. He advanced to the general election finishing ahead of the Democratic-NPL endorsed candidate in the open primary, but lost to

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 ...

Kirsten Baesler in the general election. He ran for the

North Dakota House of Representatives The North Dakota House of Representatives is the lower house of the North Dakota Legislative Assembly and is larger than the North Dakota Senate. North Dakota is divided into between 40 and 54 legislative districts apportioned by population as d ...

in 2014 but was defeated. He initially ran for his old Senate seat against Sitte, who had succeeded him in 2010, but he was defeated for the Democratic nomination by Erin Hill-Oban, then being nominated for the House instead. After Oban announced her retirement from the North Dakota Senate, Potter announced his intention to run for the seat in the 2022 election. When Oban resigned to accept the position of North Dakota State director for

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 ...

, the local Democratic Party appointed Potter to the vacant seat. Potter is married to Laura Anhalt and has 2 children.

References

External links

State Senator Tracy Potter
''official North Dakota Legislature site''
Tracy Potter for U.S. Senate
''official campaign site'' *
Campaign contributions
at

OpenSecrets.org OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP). ...

Profile
at the

site {{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Tracy 1950 births Living people Democratic Party North Dakota state senators Politicians from Bismarck, North Dakota

See also

References

External links