North Dakota to have its most competitive Republican primary since 1972
Apr. 12—GRAND FORKS — North Dakota is heading into its most competitive Republican primary since its current congressional district was established in 1972.
Since 1972, North Dakota has had one seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. In the 26 primary elections between 1972 and 2022, there have never been as many Republican candidates vying for the nomination as there are this year. Between the Republican and Democratic-NPL parties, there are seven candidates.
Five filed
paperwork to be on the ballot
for the June 11 Republican primary, including military veteran Alex Balazs, of Cando; former state Rep. Rick Becker, of Bismarck; Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak, of Bismarck; Williston resident Sharlet Mohr; and former independent U.S. House candidate Cara Mund, of Bismarck. Two candidates filed paperwork to be on the Democratic-NPL primary: Democratic nominee Trygve Hammer, of Minot, and perennial candidate Roland Riemers, of Grand Forks.
Having a competitive primary is not unheard of in North Dakota for either party. In the past 27 primary elections, including this one, there has been a competitive race in nine, where the Republican Party or Democratic-NPL Party had more than one candidate seeking the nomination. Five of those elections have occurred since 2010.
The Republican Party has had six other primaries with multiple candidates on the ballot, and the Democratic-NPL Party has had five. This year's primary is the only other time both parties have contested primaries at the same time — the other primary was the 1990 primary, 34 years ago.
However, the 2008 primary had 15 candidates on the Libertarian Party's ballot and seven candidates on the Constitution Party's ballot. But of 90,099 total votes cast for candidates in the primary, candidates from these parties only received 21 votes total, 0.023% of the votes cast.
The most comparable primary, at least for any House seat primary with anything close to the number of candidates to this year, is
2018, when there were four
Republican candidates on the ballot. Current U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong, who is not running again and is instead running for governor, won that primary. While four candidates appeared on the ballot,
Tom Campbell had dropped out
before the primary because he didn't receive the party's endorsement. He still received 27% of the vote during the primary, outperforming two other candidates.
In North Dakota, candidates for the U.S. House seat have two ways to get on the ballot. A candidate can receive the party's endorsement and submit the certificate of endorsement, or they can garner 300 signatures, the maximum amount needed, to be placed on the ballot. The paperwork needs to be filed before 4 p.m. on the 64th day — April 8 this year — before the election for the candidate to be placed on the ballot.
There can also still be a write-in campaign for the seat. A candidate will have to file a certificate of write-in candidacy by 4 p.m. May 21 with the North Dakota Secretary of State's Office before the primary election.
