Election season heating up

As election season ramps up, the race for several important positions is becoming more clear.

Doug Burgum, the Governor of North Dakota and former presidential candidate, has chosen not to run for a third term, creating a wide-open race for governor both this summer and in November.

Two have already said they plan to run: Republican Kelly Armstrong, North Dakota’s sitting representative in Congress, and Democrat Travis Hipsher, a former N.D. Senate candidate.

A resident of Neche, N.D. in Pembina County, Hipsher will attempt to be the first Democrat since 1988 to become Governor of North Dakota.

The self-described centrist faces long odds in a Republican-dominated state, however, particularly as he faces a well-known Republican challenger.

In addition to being elected the state’s lone U.S. House member for three consecutive terms, Armstrong is also a former state senator from Dickinson and a former state GOP chairman, and he’s an early favorite to become the state’s next governor.

As of press time, no other candidates had emerged to mount a challenge to Armstrong or Hipsher in the primary.

Of course, Armstrong’s announcement that he’s running for governor leaves open another seat ahead of this year’s elections, and two Republicans are vying to take his place on Capitol Hill.

Republican Tom Campbell, a former state senator who had originally planned to run for governor, will now run for the U.S. House seat.

Running against him for the Republican nomination will be Rick Becker, a former state representative who is currently leading an effort to eliminate property tax in North Dakota.

Meanwhile, Trygve Hammer is currently the only Democratic candidate who’s announced a run for the U.S. House seat.

Hammer, a resident of Minot, has extensive military experience. He studied at the Naval Academy, became a Marine helicopter pilot and was deployed to Iraq in 2003 as a platoon commander.

Hammer also has diverse work experience. He has worked in the Bakken oilfields, spent time in the classroom as a science teacher in Granville, N.D., and most recently was a train conductor.

Last but not least, one of North Dakota’s two U.S. Senate seats is also up for election this November.

Republican Kevin Cramer, who currently holds the seat, hadn’t yet announced whether he’s running for reelection as of press time.

For now, that leaves the only declared candidate for U.S. Senate as Democrat Kristina Christianson, an assistant professor of engineering at the University of Jamestown.

Voters may remember that Christianson previously ran for the U.S. Senate in 2022, when she challenged Sen. John Hoeven.

Looking ahead, the N.D. Republican Party Convention will take place in Fargo on April 5-6. The Democratic-NPL party, meanwhile, has scheduled their convention for April 4-7 also in Fargo.

Voters will select the nominees for both parties in the primary election on June 11.