# 2012 North Dakota gubernatorial election

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The 2012 North Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2012, to elect a Governor and Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota, concurrently with the 2012 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Governor Jack Dalrymple succeeded to the office when then-Governor John Hoeven resigned to take a seat in the U.S. Senate in 2010. Dalrymple, a member of the Republican Party, won election to a full term. Ryan Taylor was the Democratic nominee. Dalrymple prevailed with 63% of the vote; he declined to seek re-election in 2016.

## Republican Party
### Candidates

The North Dakota Republican Party selected incumbent Governor Jack Dalrymple as their nominee and incumbent Lieutenant Governor Drew Wrigley was his running mate. Dalrymple defeated Fargo architect Paul Sorum who later ran as an Independent.

#### Declined

* Ed Schafer, former Governor of North Dakota and former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture

## Libertarian Party
### Candidates

The Libertarian Party of North Dakota selected Roland Riemers, a real estate investor and a failed 2010 candidate for Grand Forks County Sheriff and failed 1996 candidate for president as their candidate.
On July 5, 2012, it was announced that Riemers will not appear on the ballot because his running mate, Richard Ames, failed to file a page of his paperwork. On September 12, 2012, after being disqualified from appearing on the November ballot, Roland Riemers, a libertarian now running as an independent with Anthony Johns, said in a news release that he had submitted more than 1,100 signatures to the secretary of state. The pair appears on the ballot certified by the secretary on Monday. Roland Riemers has filed a lawsuit to have the other candidates removed from the ballot.

## Democratic-NPL Party
### Candidates

The North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party selected rancher and North Dakota Senate Minority Leader Ryan Taylor as their nominee. Ellen Chaffee was his running mate.

## General election
### Debates

* Complete video of debate, October 5, 2012 - C-SPAN

### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| The Cook Political Report | Solid R | November 1, 2012 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe R | November 5, 2012 |
| Rothenberg Political Report | Safe R | November 2, 2012 |
| Real Clear Politics | Safe R | November 5, 2012 |

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Jack Dalrymple (R) | Ryan Taylor (D) | Other | Undecided |
| Pharos Research | October 26–28, 2012 | 752 | ± 3.6% | 63% | 34% | — | 3% |
| Pharos Research | October 19–21, 2012 | 807 | ± 3.44% | 63% | 32% | — | 5% |
| Rasmussen Reports | October 17–18, 2012 | 600 | ± 4.0% | 53% | 39% | 2% | 6% |
| Forum/Essman | October 12–15, 2012 | 500 | ± 4.4% | 59% | 28% | — | 13% |
| Mason-Dixon | October 3–5, 2012 | 625 | ± 4.0% | 62% | 24% | 1% | 13% |
| Rasmussen Reports | July 10–11, 2012 | 400 | ± 5.0% | 61% | 26% | 1% | 11% |

### Results

North Dakota gubernatorial election, 2012 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Jack Dalrymple (incumbent) | 200,525 | 63.10% | −11.34% |
| | Democratic–NPL | Ryan Taylor | 109,048 | 34.31% | +10.78% |
| | Independent | Paul Sorum | 5,356 | 1.69% | N/A |
| | Independent | Roland Riemers | 2,618 | 0.82% | N/A |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 267 | 0.08% | N/A |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 317,814 | 100.00% | N/A |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

#### Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Benson (Largest CDP: Fort Totten)
* McHenry (largest city: Velva)
* Pierce (largest city: Rugby)
* Ransom (Largest city: Lisbon)
* Sioux (Largest CDP: Cannon Ball)