North Dakota held two statewide elections in 2016: a primary election on Tuesday, June 14, and a general election on Tuesday, November 8. In addition, each

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

elected officers on Tuesday, March 15, and each school district selected a date between April 1 and June 30 to hold their elections. This would have been the first election since the state legislature revoked the ability to use a student or military ID to satisfy state ID voting requirements, but a court ruling in August struck the down the provision, and the election was held under the 2013 rules.

Primary Election

On Tuesday, June 14, North Dakota voters decided which candidates for statewide and legislative office would appear on their ballot. In addition, voters were faced with the decision whether to ratify a single initiative, which was passed by the legislature, but referred to statewide vote via petition.

Measure 1

In 2015, the

North Dakota Legislative Assembly The North Dakota Legislative Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of North Dakota. The Legislative Assembly consists of two chambers, the lower North Dakota House of Representatives, with 94 representatives, and the upper No ...

passed SB 2351, which would allow corporations and limited liability companies to own dairy and swine production facilities up to in size. On March 27, 2015, a committee of members led by officers of North Dakota Farmers Union filed an unsigned petition with the

North Dakota Secretary of State The North Dakota secretary of state is an elected office in the U.S. state of North Dakota. The incumbent was Michael Howe. Duties of the secretary of state include being the custodian of the state's Great Seal and other official state documents ...

, allowing the group to gather signatures with the intent to place the item on the June ballot. On June 16, 2015, the committee returned with 19,354 valid signatures, well above the 13,452 required. On the June 14 Primary Ballot, voters were asked to approve or deny the bill, given the following explanation:

General election

On Tuesday, November 8, North Dakota voters selected the state's three

presidential electors In the United States, the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors that is formed every four years for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president in the presidential election. This process is described in ...

, one

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

, one

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

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

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

, and several other statewide executive and judicial branch offices. Voters who live in even-numbered legislative districts also selected their representatives to 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 ...

and

North Dakota Senate The North Dakota State 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 distri ...

. Finally, voters approved only one of the five ballot petitions that have received enough signatures to be placed on the ballot.

United States President and Vice President

North Dakota voters chose three electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote. Voters selected the electors representing the Republican candidates, businessman

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

and Indiana Governor

Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

, over their Democratic rivals, former Secretary of State

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

and

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Tim Kaine Timothy Michael Kaine ( ; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party (United States ...

United States Senator

Voters selected whom to send to Class III of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. The incumbent, Republican

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 N ...

, defeated Democratic-NPL

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

Eliot Glassheim by a wide margin.

United States House of Representatives

Voters selected a representative to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. Incumbent Republican representative

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 district ...

defeated Democratic-NPL American Indian activist

Chase Iron Eyes Chase Iron Eyes (born March 6, 1978) is a Native American activist, attorney, politician, and a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. He is a member of the Lakota People's Law Project and a co-founder of the Native American news website ''Last R ...

Governor and lieutenant governor

The Republican team of businessman

Doug Burgum Douglas James Burgum ( ; born August 1, 1956) is an American businessman and politician who has served as the 55th United States Secretary of the Interior, United States secretary of the interior since February 1, 2025, under President Donald Tru ...

and Watford City mayor

Brent Sanford Brent Sanford (born December 23, 1971) is an American politician who was the 38th lieutenant governor of North Dakota from 2016 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was Mayor of Watford City from 2010 to 2016. Career Sanfo ...

defeated the Democratic-NPL candidates, state representative

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 Nor ...

and state senator

Joan Heckaman Joan Heckaman (born May 30, 1946) is a former North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party member of the North Dakota Senate, representing the 23rd district. She served as Senate Minority Leader from 2016 to 2022. Heckaman was the Democratic-NPL nominee fo ...

in the race to replace retiring incumbent

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 gover ...

and

Drew Wrigley Drew Howard Wrigley (born October 10, 1965) is an American lawyer and politician from North Dakota. Wrigley serves as the attorney general of North Dakota. He declared his candidacy for the office in early January 2022. Weeks later, then-incumb ...

State Auditor

In the election for

State Auditor State auditors (also known as state comptrollers, state controllers, or state examiners, among others) are fiscal officers lodged in the executive or legislative branches of U.S. state governments who serve as external auditors, program eval ...

, voters selected Republican accountant

Josh Gallion Joshua Charles Gallion (born March 19, 1979) is an American Republican politician and accountant who has served as North Dakota State Auditor since 2017. Biography Gallion, born in Spokane, Washington, served in the United States Air Force f ...

to replace retiring incumbent Bob Peterson over frequent Libertarian Party candidate Roland Riemers.

State Treasurer

In the

State Treasurer In the state and territorial governments of the United States, 54 of the 56 states and territories have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the office of New York State Treasurer in 1926, in which the duties were transfer ...

election, Republican incumbent

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. Electoral his ...

defeated the Democratic-NPL challenger, state senator

Tim Mathern Timothy Mathern (born April 19, 1950) is an American politician and North Dakota Senate, state senator in North Dakota. He also unsuccessfully ran for Governor of North Dakota in 2008 North Dakota gubernatorial election, 2008. Early life and educ ...

Insurance Commissioner

In the race for

Insurance Commissioner An insurance commissioner (or commissioner of insurance) is a public official in the executive branch of a state or territory in the United States who, along with their office, regulate the insurance industry. The powers granted to the office of ...

, voters selected the Republican candidate, Greater North Dakota Chamber executive

Jon Godfread Jonathan Godfread (born 1981/1982) is an American politician from the state of North Dakota. A member of the Republican Party, he is the North Dakota Insurance Commissioner, and has served in the role since 2016. Early life and career Godfread ...

, over the Democratic-NPL candidate, educator

Ruth Buffalo Ruth Anna Buffalo is an American people, American politician who served as a member of the North Dakota House of Representatives from the 27th District, from December 1, 2018 to December 1, 2022. She is the first Native American Democratic Party ...

, to replace incumbent commissioner

Adam Hamm Adam Hamm (born July 24, 1971) is a former North Dakota Insurance Commissioner who served from 2007 to 2016. He was appointed to the position and he began his work on October 22, 2007. Voters were given the opportunity to fill one of the three seats on the

Public Service Commission Public Service Commission may refer to: * Public utilities commission ** Alabama Public Service Commission ** Public Service Commission (Indiana) ** Public Service Commission of Utah ** Public Utilities Commission of Ohio ** Public Utilities Com ...

, selecting Republican incumbent

Julie Fedorchak Julie Ann Fedorchak (née Liffrig; born September 28, 1968) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for North Dakota's at-large congressional district since 2025. Fedorchak is the first ...

over Democratic-NPL rival Marlo Hunte-Beaubrun.

Superintendent of Public Instruction

In the nonpartisan election 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 U.S. territory, territory responsible for education, including providing information, resources, and technical assistan ...

, voters selected incumbent

Kirsten Baesler Kirsten Baesler is the North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction, a position she has held since her North Dakota elections, 2012#Superintendent of Public Instruction, election in 2012. Baesler is originally from Flasher, North Dakota. Ori ...

, who had been endorsed by the Republican Party, over educator Joe Chiang, who had not been endorsed by any statewide party.

Supreme Court Justice

Two seats on 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 is elected on a no-party ballot for a ten-year ...

were up for election in 2016: a regularly scheduled election to a full ten-year term, in which Jerod Tufte and Robert Bolinske competed to replace retiring justice Dale Sandstrom, and a special election to serve the final two years of the term of retired Justice

Mary Muehlen Maring Mary Muehlen Maring (born July 27, 1951) was a justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court. Mary Muehlen Maring was born and raised in Devils Lake, North Dakota. She graduated with B.A. degree in Political Science and German from Moorhead State Un ...

, in which

Lisa K. Fair McEvers Lisa K. Fair McEvers (born 1962) is a North Dakota lawyer and jurist who serves as a justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court since 2014. She previously served as Commissioner of the North Dakota Department of Labor from 2005 to 2010 and distric ...

ran unopposed. 2016 North Dakota Supreme Court election results map by county

2016 North Dakota Supreme Court special election results map by county

References

External links

* {{2016 United States elections

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