Merrill Piepkorn | |
State Senate: | North Dakota |
District: | 44th |
Term Start: | December 1, 2016 |
Predecessor: | Tim Flakoll |
Birth Place: | Stanley, North Dakota, U.S. |
Party: | Democratic |
Spouse: | Connie |
Children: | 1 |
Education: | Concordia College (BA) North Dakota State University |
Merrill Piepkorn (born 1949)[1] is an American entertainer and politician who has served in the North Dakota Senate from the 44th district since 2016. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Piepkorn is a candidate in the 2024 North Dakota gubernatorial election. He has also hosted radio shows on Prairie Public Radio and served as the public address announcer for the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks.
Piepkorn was born in 1949.[2] He attended Concordia College. While he was enrolled there, he began playing music with Gregg Temple, a fellow student, in 1972. He graduated from Concordia in 1974. After graduating, Piepkorn and Temple co-founded a country band called Skunk Hollow.[3] [4]
Piepkorn worked for Prairie Public Radio, hosting "Morning Edition" while he was a graduate student at North Dakota State University. In 1999, he co-created and began hosting the radio show "Here & Now".[5] Piepkorn became the public address announcer for the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, a Minor League Baseball team, for the 1997 season. He stayed in the role through the 2006 season.[6] Piepkorn and Temple co-founded a band called the Radio Stars in 2008.[3] [7] He created, hosted, and served as executive producer of "Dakota Air" on Prairie Public Radio, which debuted in 2010.[8]
Piepkorn ran for the North Dakota Senate as a member of the Democratic Party in 2016. He defeated Tim Flakoll, the incumbent state senator, in the November general election.[9] Flakoll sought a rematch in 2020, and Piepkorn won reelection.[10] He won reelection in 2022 with 62% of the vote against Republican Bjorn Altenburg.[11] In November 2022, Piepkorn was elected to serve as assistant minority leader of the state senate.[12]
On April 2, 2024, Piepkorn announced that he would run for governor of North Dakota in the 2024 election.[13] He won the party's nomination at their convention in April. He selected Patrick Hart as his running mate for lieutenant governor of North Dakota.[14]
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