2020 North Dakota gubernatorial election explained

Election Name:	2020 North Dakota gubernatorial election
Country:	North Dakota
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	2016 North Dakota gubernatorial election
Previous Year:	2016
Next Election:	2024 North Dakota gubernatorial election
Next Year:	2024
Election Date:	November 3, 2020
Turnout:	62.65%
Image1:	File:Governor Doug Burgum (cropped).jpg
Nominee1:	Doug Burgum
Party1:	North Dakota Republican Party
Running Mate1:	Brent Sanford
Popular Vote1:	235,479
Percentage1:	65.84%
Nominee2:	Shelley Lenz
Party2:	North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party
Running Mate2:	Ben Vig
Popular Vote2:	90,789
Percentage2:	25.38%
Governor
Before Election:	Doug Burgum
Before Party:	North Dakota Republican Party
After Election:	Doug Burgum
After Party:	North Dakota Republican Party
Map Size:	250px

The 2020 North Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota, concurrently with other federal and statewide elections, including the U.S. presidential election.^[1] Incumbent Republican Governor Doug Burgum and Lieutenant Governor Brent Sanford were both re-elected to a second term.

Republican primary

The Republican Party held a state convention in the spring to endorse a single gubernatorial candidate. That candidate and his or her running mate were automatically placed on the primary election ballot. Endorsed candidates may or may not face competition from other candidates placed there by petition—as incumbent governor Burgum did in 2016. The winner of the primary appears on the general election ballot. All primary elections in North Dakota are open to all qualified North Dakota electors, regardless of party affiliation.^[1] The 2020 primary election was held on June 9.

Candidates

Nominee

• Doug Burgum, incumbent Governor^[2]
  • Running mate: Brent Sanford, incumbent Lieutenant Governor

Eliminated in primary

• Michael Coachman, former Larimore city councilor and perennial candidate^[3]
  • Running mate: Joel H. Hylden^[4]

Declined

• Wayne Stenehjem, North Dakota Attorney General^[5]
• Drew Wrigley, U.S. Attorney for the District of North Dakota^[5]

Results

Democratic-NPL primary

At the Democratic-NPL Party's virtual state convention on March 21, the party endorsed Shelley Lenz for governor and Ben Vig for lieutenant governor.^[6] As a result, they were automatically placed on the primary election ballot, where they did not face competition from other candidates. The primary election was held on June 9, entirely by mail and open to all qualified North Dakota electors, regardless of party affiliation.^[1]

Candidates

Nominee

• Shelley Lenz, veterinarian and former Killdeer school board member^[7]
  • Running mate: Ben Vig, former state representative^[8]

Declined

• Joshua Boschee, minority leader of the North Dakota House of Representatives^[5]
• Heidi Heitkamp, former U.S. Senator^[9]
• Erin Oban, state senator^[5]
• Mac Schneider, former minority leader of the North Dakota Senate^[5]

Results

Other candidates

Libertarian Party

Nominee

• DuWayne Hendrickson^[10]
  • Running mate: Joshua Voytek^[10]

Results

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[11]		October 23, 2020
Inside Elections^[12]		October 28, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[13]		November 2, 2020
Politico^[14]		November 2, 2020
Daily Kos^[15]		October 28, 2020
RCP^[16]		November 2, 2020
270towin^[17]		November 2, 2020

Polling

with Heidi Heitkamp

Results

County	Doug Burgum Republican		Shelley Lenz Democratic–NPL		DuWayne Hendrickson Libertarian		Write-in		Margin		Total votes
	data-sort-type="number"		data-sort-type="number"	%	data-sort-type="number"		data-sort-type="number"	%	data-sort-type="number"			data-sort-type="number"	%	data-sort-type="number"		data-sort-type="number"	%	data-sort-type="number"		data-sort-type="number"	%
	Adams		1,000		79.37		163		12.94		40		3.17		40		3.17		837		66.43		1,260
	Barnes		3,775		68.44		1,366		24.76		173		3.14		202		3.66		2,409		43.67		5,516
	Benson		1,098		56.25		708		36.27		61		3.13		85		4.35		390		19.98		1,952
	Billings		442		70.27		57		9.06		28		4.45		102		16.22		340		54.05		629
	Bottineau		2,653		77.01		588		17.07		93		2.70		111		3.22		2,065		59.94		3,445
	Bowman		1,254		76.65		171		10.45		53		3.24		158		9.66		1,083		66.20		1,636
	Burke		860		75.31		129		11.30		43		3.77		110		9.63		731		64.01		1,142
	Burleigh		31,067		62.13		12,064		24.13		2,385		4.77		4,487		8.97		19,003		38.00		50,003
	Cass		50,649		59.31		31,055		36.37		2,737		3.21		951		1.11		19,594		22.95		85,392
	Cavalier		1,551		77.13		343		17.06		55		2.73		62		3.08		1,208		60.07		2,011
	Dickey		1,791		73.95		479		19.78		72		2.97		80		3.30		1,312		54.17		2,422
	Divide		918		76.76		200		16.72		40		3.34		38		3.18		718		60.03		1,196
	Dunn		1,711		74.07		280		12.12		99		4.29		220		9.52		1,431		61.95		2,310
	Eddy		847		67.60		307		24.50		37		2.95		62		4.95		540		43.10		1,253
	Emmons		1,375		70.30		225		11.50		98		5.01		258		13.19		1,117		57.11		1,956
	Foster		1,317		74.96		290		16.51		58		3.30		92		5.24		1,027		58.45		1,757
	Golden Valley		792		78.11		105		10.36		46		4.54		71		7.00		687		67.75		1,014
	Grand Forks		19,150		62.77		10,006		32.80		955		3.13		395		1.29		9,144		29.97		30,506
	Grant		964		70.26		171		12.46		71		5.17		166		12.10		793		57.80		1,372
	Griggs		924		74.46		247		19.90		33		2.66		37		2.98		677		54.55		1,241
	Hettinger		923		71.66		153		11.88		65		5.05		147		11.41		770		59.78		1,288
	Kidder		928		64.36		215		14.91		75		5.20		224		15.53		704		48.82		1,442
	LaMoure		1,666		75.49		391		17.72		69		3.13		81		3.67		1,275		57.77		2,207
	Logan		739		69.78		109		10.29		54		5.10		157		14.83		582		54.96		1,059
	McHenry		2,211		74.32		447		15.03		136		4.57		181		6.08		1,764		59.29		2,975
	McIntosh		1,109		77.12		201		13.98		64		4.45		64		4.45		908		63.14		1,438
	McKenzie		4,305		80.60		659		12.34		192		3.59		185		3.46		3,646		68.26		5,341
	McLean		3,466		63.67		1,094		20.10		305		5.60		579		10.64		2,372		43.57		5,444
	Mercer		3,352		72.65		591		12.81		175		3.79		496		10.75		2,761		59.84		4,614
	Morton		10,254		62.73		3,341		20.44		865		5.29		1,886		11.54		6,913		42.29		16,346
	Mountrail		2,691		65.27		1,072		26.00		170		4.12		190		4.61		1,619		39.27		4,123
	Nelson		1,192		67.08		504		28.36		40		2.25		41		2.31		688		38.72		1,777
	Oliver		741		70.84		123		11.76		44		4.21		138		13.19		603		57.65		1,046
	Pembina		2,451		74.27		625		18.94		91		2.76		133		4.03		1,826		55.33		3,300
	Pierce		1,522		72.20		373		17.69		61		2.89		152		7.21		1,149		54.51		2,108
	Ramsey		3,761		70.12		1,239		23.10		181		3.37		183		3.41		2,522		47.02		5,364
	Ransom		1,603		65.56		693		28.34		97		3.97		52		2.13		910		37.22		2,445
	Renville		1,064		80.97		168		12.79		43		3.27		39		2.97		896		68.19		1,314
	Richland		5,458		70.34		1,963		25.30		236		3.04		102		1.31		3,495		45.04		7,759
	Rolette		1,496		39.72		2,151		57.12		80		2.12		39		1.04		-655		-17.39		3,766
	Sargent		1,414		68.64		571		27.72		53		2.57		22		1.07		843		40.92		2,060
	Sheridan		516		64.91		101		12.70		43		5.41		135		16.98		381		47.92		795
	Sioux		340		28.89		667		56.67		77		6.54		93		7.90		-327		-27.78		1,177
	Slope		329		77.41		40		9.41		16		3.76		40		9.41		289		68.00		425
	Stark		10,499		70.84		1,977		13.34		754		5.09		1,590		10.73		8,522		57.50		14,820
	Steele		714		65.63		333		30.61		24		2.21		17		1.56		381		35.02		1,088
	Stutsman		7,071		72.26		1,992		20.36		395		4.04		327		3.34		5,079		51.91		9,785
	Towner		861		73.78		234		20.05		30		2.57		42		3.60		627		53.73		1,167
	Traill		2,755		66.84		1,201		29.14		96		2.33		70		1.70		1,554		37.70		4,122
	Walsh		3,461		72.96		975		20.55		120		2.53		188		3.96		2,486		52.40		4,744
	Ward		20,295		72.51		5,587		19.96		1,262		4.51		847		3.03		14,708		52.55		27,991
	Wells		1,606		68.57		356		15.20		98		4.18		282		12.04		1,250		53.37		2,342
	Williams		10,548		75.48		1,689		12.09		665		4.76		1,072		7.67		8,859		63.40		13,974
Totals	235,479	65.84	90,789	25.38	13,853	3.87	17,538	4.90	144,690	40.46	357,659

Notes

Partisan clients

General notes

External links

• • • Web site: League of Women Voters of North Dakota . (state affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)

Official campaign websites

• Doug Burgum (R) for Governor
• Shelley Lenz (D) for Governor

Notes and References

1. Web site: North Dakota Election Laws . . January 8, 2019.
2. Web site: Dura . Jack . Gov. Burgum announces reelection campaign . The Bismarck Tribune . October 24, 2019 . October 24, 2019.
3. Web site: Dura . Jack . Coachman announces 2020 North Dakota gubernatorial campaign . Grand Forks Herald . Bismarck Tribune . September 23, 2019 . September 16, 2019.
4. Web site: Candidate List Results. April 7, 2020. North Dakota Secretary of State. April 7, 2020.
5. News: Easter. Sam. Little interest, so far, in ND governor's race. The Jamestown Sun. June 16, 2019. June 16, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190619222811/https://www.jamestownsun.com/news/government-and-politics/4626204-little-interest-so-far-nd-governors-race. June 19, 2019.
6. News: Dura . Jack . North Dakota Democrats endorse 2020 state, congressional candidates . August 24, 2020 . . . March 22, 2020 . en.
7. Web site: Shelley Lenz launches campaign for ND Governor. 2020-01-31. KVRR. 2020-05-13.
8. Web site: Dem-NPL Governor Candidate Lenz Announces Running Mate. 2020-04-06. KVRR Local News. en-US. 2020-04-07.
9. News: Nicholson. Blake. Burgum campaign measures popularity against that of Heitkamp. The Bismarck Tribune. August 8, 2019. August 8, 2019.
10. Web site: 2020 primary election contest/candidate list.
11. Web site: 2020 Governor Race Ratings for October 23, 2020. The Cook Political Report. en. March 11, 2021.
12. Web site: 2020 Gubernatorial Ratings. insideelections.com. March 11, 2021.
13. Web site: 2020 Gubernatorial race ratings . November 2, 2020 . Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball . March 13, 2021.
14. Web site: We rated every gubernatorial race in 2020. Here's who we think will win.. Politico. November 19, 2019.
15. Web site: 2020 Governor Race Ratings . . June 1, 2020 . June 5, 2020.
16. Web site: June 13, 2020 . 2020 Governor Races. June 14, 2020 . RealClearPolitics.
17. Web site: 2020 Gubernatorial Elections Map . 270towin.