The 2004 North Dakota gubernatorial election took place on 2 November 2004 for the post of Governor of North Dakota.

Incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

Republican Governor John Hoeven was easily re-elected defeating Democratic-NPL former

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

Joe Satrom.

Republican nomination

Incumbent Governor John Hoeven was unopposed for the Republican nomination and accepted the nomination by stating that the economy of North Dakota was his priority.

Democratic-NPL nomination

Former state senator Joe Satrom defeated North Dakota House of Representatives minority leader Merle Boucher for the Democratic-NPL nomination. Satrom began campaigning for the nomination almost a year before the

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 ...

Democratic-NPL Convention would choose the parties candidate for Governor. Boucher announced his candidacy in December 2003 but struggled to make up ground against Satrom. The two candidates debated at 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 ...

, just before the convention, with education and the future of the state's youth the main topics. The Democratic-NPL Convention voted by 632 to 341 to endorse Satrom as their candidate for Governor.

General election

Campaign

The two candidates met in three debates during the campaign, during the final debate on 9 October 2004 they clashed over a

smoking ban Smoking bans, or smoke-free laws, are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, that prohibit tobacco smoking in certain spaces. The spaces most commonly affected by smoking bans are indoor work ...

, outmigration and a proposed

constitutional amendment A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...

to ban

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

. Satrom called for North Dakota to introduce a one thousand dollar donation limit, for individuals and political action committees, to avoid any perception of

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...

. Hoeven named education, growth and jobs as his priorities but faced anger from some hunting groups over changes to hunt seasons.

Opinion poll An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...

s gave Hoeven a strong lead over Satrom with one in October 2004 showing Hoeven on 70% as against 22% for Satrom. Hoeven raised far more money than his challenger and even a normally Democratic supporting teachers

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

, the North Dakota Education Association, endorsed Hoeven for Governor.

Predictions

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Divide (largest city: Crosby) *

Benson Benson may refer to: Animals *Benson (fish), largest common carp caught in Britain Places Geography Canada *Rural Municipality of Benson No. 35, Saskatchewan; rural municipality *Benson, Saskatchewan; hamlet United Kingdom * Benson, Oxfordshire ...

(Largest CDP: Fort Totten) *

Name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A personal ...

(Largest city:

Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

) * Nelson (Largest city: Lakota) *

Ransom Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice. When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''red ...

(Largest city:

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

) * Richland (largest city: Wahpeton) *

Sargent Sargent or Sargents may refer to: People * Sargent (name), includes a list of people with the name Places *Sargent, California *Sargents, Colorado *Sargent, Georgia * Sargent, Scott County, Missouri * Sargent, Texas County, Missouri *Sargent, Ne ...

(Largest city: Gwinner) *

Steele Steele may refer to: Places America * Steele, Alabama, a town * Steele, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Steele, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Steele, Missouri, a city * Lonetree, Montana, a ghost town originally called Steele ...

(Largest city: Finley) * Towner (Largest city:

Cando Cando may refer to: * Cando, North Dakota * Cando, Saskatchewan * Cando, Spain * Cando (river), in San Marino * CANDO, community project * NEO CANDO Northeast Ohio Community and Neighborhood Data for Organizing (NEO CANDO) is an online database ...

) * Traill (Largest city: Mayville)

References

{{North Dakota elections

Gubernatorial A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...