# 2016 North Dakota gubernatorial election

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The 2016 North Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2016, to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota, concurrently with the 2016 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. This would have been the first time North Dakotans selected a governor under new voter ID requirements, in which a student ID was insufficient identification to vote, but a court ruling in August 2016 struck the down the provision; the election was held under the 2013 rules.
The primaries took place on June 14. This is the first open seat election since 2000. Incumbent Republican Jack Dalrymple announced that he would not run for re-election to a second full term in office. Businessman Doug Burgum (R) defeated state representative Marvin Nelson (DNPL) in the general election to become the new Governor of North Dakota.

## Background

In December 2010, Republican Governor John Hoeven resigned after being elected to the U.S. Senate. Jack Dalrymple, the lieutenant governor, was sworn in as governor and was elected to a full term in 2012. In August 2015, Dalrymple announced that he would not run for re-election to a second full term in office.

## Republican primary

The North Dakota Republican Party endorsed North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem at their April 2–3 state convention, however ballot access was actually determined by the June 14th primary election, which former Microsoft executive Doug Burgum won in an upset.

### Candidates
#### Endorsed

* Wayne Stenehjem, North Dakota Attorney General
** Running mate: Nicole Poolman, State Senator and wife of Jim Poolman

#### Other candidates

* Doug Burgum, former Senior Vice President of Microsoft and former Chairman & CEO of Great Plains Software
** Running mate: Brent Sanford, Watford City Mayor
* Paul Sorum, architect
** Running mate: Michael Coachman, human resources executive

#### Withdrawn

* Rick Becker, state representative

#### Declined

* Tom Campbell, state senator
* Kevin Cramer, U.S. Representative
* Jack Dalrymple, incumbent Governor
* Ed Schafer, former Governor and former United States Secretary of Agriculture
* Kelly Schmidt, North Dakota State Treasurer (running for re-election)
* Drew Wrigley, Lieutenant Governor

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Rick Becker | Doug Burgum | Wayne Stenehjem | Undecided |
| ND United/DFM Research | February 18–25, 2016 | 369 | ±5.1% | — | 10% | 59% | 31% |
* ↑ likely Republican primary voters

### Republican State Convention

To endorse a candidate, delegates to the Republican state convention voted for one candidate in a series of rounds. After the first round, all candidates would remain on the ballot, but after subsequent rounds of voting, the recipient of the lowest number of votes would be removed. The first candidate to receive more than half the cast vote would receive the state party endorsement.
After no candidate received the majority in the first round, a second round of voting was completed, in which enough delegates voted for Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem to give him the endorsement without having to remove a candidate from the ballot or vote again.
First Convention Ballot :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Wayne Stenehjem | 769 | 47.97% |
| | Republican | Rick Becker | 587 | 36.61% |
| | Republican | Doug Burgum | 247 | 15.40% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,603 | 100.00% |
Second Convention Ballot :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Wayne Stenehjem | 823 | 51.50% |
| | Republican | Rick Becker | 618 | 38.67% |
| | Republican | Doug Burgum | 157 | 9.82% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,598 | 100.00% |

### Republican primary results

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Doug Burgum | 68,042 | 59.47% |
| | Republican | Wayne Stenehjem | 44,158 | 38.59% |
| | Republican | Paul Sorum | 2,164 | 1.89% |
| | Republican | Write-in | 51 | 0.04% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 114,415 | 100.00% |

## Democratic primary
### Candidates
#### Endorsed

* Marvin Nelson, state representative
** Running mate: Joan Heckaman, state senator

#### Declined

* Ellen Chaffee, nominee for lieutenant governor in 2012
* Heidi Heitkamp, U.S. Senator and nominee for governor in 2000
* Tim Mathern, State Senator and nominee for governor in 2008
* Tracy Potter, former state senator, nominee for U.S. Senate in 2010 and nominee for Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2012
* George B. Sinner, State Senator and nominee for North Dakota's at-large congressional district in 2014
* Ryan Taylor, USDA Rural Development State Director, former state senator, nominee for governor in 2012 and nominee for Agriculture Commissioner in 2014
* Sarah Vogel, former North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner and candidate for the North Dakota Supreme Court in 1996

### Results

Democratic-NPL primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic–NPL | Marvin Nelson | 17,278 | 99.66% |
| | Democratic–NPL | Write-in | 59 | 0.34% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 17,337 | 100.00% |

## Libertarian Party
### Candidates
#### Endorsed

* Marty Riske, businessman and former state party chairman
** Running mate: Joshua Voytek

### Results

Libertarian primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Libertarian | Marty Riske | 1,088 | 99.36% |
| | Libertarian | Write-in | 7 | 0.64% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,095 | 100.00% |

## General election
### Debates

* Complete video of debate, October 10, 2016 - C-SPAN

### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| The Cook Political Report | Safe R | August 12, 2016 |
| Daily Kos | Likely R | November 8, 2016 |
| Rothenberg Political Report | Safe R | November 3, 2016 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe R | November 7, 2016 |
| Real Clear Politics | Safe R | November 1, 2016 |
| Governing | Safe R | October 27, 2016 |

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Doug Burgum (R) | Marvin Nelson (D) | Undecided |
| SurveyMonkey | November 1–7, 2016 | 313 | ± 4.6% | 70% | 27% | 3% |
| SurveyMonkey | October 31–November 6, 2016 | 288 | ± 4.6% | 68% | 29% | 3% |
| SurveyMonkey | October 28–November 3, 2016 | 276 | ± 4.6% | 70% | 27% | 3% |
| SurveyMonkey | October 27–November 2, 2016 | 260 | ± 4.6% | 69% | 28% | 3% |
| SurveyMonkey | October 26–November 1, 2016 | 254 | ± 4.6% | 67% | 30% | 3% |
| SurveyMonkey | October 25–31, 2016 | 279 | ± 4.6% | 68% | 29% | 3% |

### Results

North Dakota gubernatorial election, 2016 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Doug Burgum | 259,863 | 76.52% | +13.42% |
| | Democratic–NPL | Marvin Nelson | 65,855 | 19.39% | −14.92% |
| | Libertarian | Marty Riske | 13,230 | 3.90% | N/A |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 653 | 0.19% | N/A |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 339,601 | 100.0% | N/A |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

#### Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

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