# 2008 North Dakota gubernatorial election

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vte :
The 2008 North Dakota gubernatorial election took place on 4 November 2008 for the post of Governor of North Dakota. Incumbent Republican governor John Hoeven was easily reelected again, defeating Democratic-NPL challenger Tim Mathern. The primaries took place on June 10, 2008. John Hoeven outperformed John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, by about 21%. McCain defeated Democratic nominee Barack Obama 53%–45% in the concurrent presidential election.
In 2022, voters voted in favor of Constitutional Measure 1 to term-limit governors. Doug Burgum, who was in his second term when the measure passed, would have been eligible to run for a third under grandfather clause, but he ultimately chose not to, making this election the last time an incumbent ran for a third consecutive term.

## Candidates
### Republican

* John Hoeven, Governor of North Dakota
   * Running mate: Jack Dalrymple, Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota

### Democratic-NPL

* Tim Mathern, State Senator
   * Running mate: Merle Boucher, State Representative

### Independent

* DuWayne Hendrickson
   * Running mate: Dana Brandenberg

## General election
### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| The Cook Political Report | Safe R | October 16, 2008 |
| Rothenberg Political Report | Safe R | November 2, 2008 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe R | November 3, 2008 |
| Real Clear Politics | Safe R | November 4, 2008 |

### Polling

| Source | Date | John Hoeven (R) | Tim Mathern (D) |
| Rasmussen Reports | September 8, 2008 | 68% | 28% |
| Rasmussen Reports | July 8, 2008 | 67% | 27% |

### Results

North Dakota gubernatorial election, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | John Hoeven (Incumbent) | 235,009 | 74.44% | +3.19% |
| | Democratic–NPL | Tim Mathern | 74,279 | 23.53% | −3.86% |
| | Independent | DuWayne Hendrickson | 6,404 | 2.03% | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 160,730 | 50.91% | +7.05% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 315,692 | | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Swing | | |

#### Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Sioux (Largest CDP: Cannon Ball)