Republican John Hoeven of North Dakota has won reelection to a third term in the U.S. Senate. Hoeven coasted past Rick Becker, a fellow Republican who ran as an independent, and Democrat Katrina Christiansen in Tuesday’s election. The victory matches the three terms he won as North Dakota’s governor. Becker, a leader of the GOP’s far-right faction in North Dakota, narrowly lost the party endorsement to Hoeven in April. Christiansen is a University of Jamestown engineering professor and political newcomer.
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North Dakota U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong has won a third term over former Miss America Cara Mund in a House race that was shaken up by Mund’s late entry as an independent. The 46-year-old Armstrong has deep ties to the state’s energy industries and held a huge financial advantage going into the election. Mund jumped into the race in the summer, citing her support for abortion rights as the major reason. The Democratic candidate, who opposes abortion rights, dropped out soon after Mund entered, citing pressure from his own party. Republicans portrayed Mund as a Democrat except in name and highlighted past remarks where she expressed concern about climate change.
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Voters in North Dakota have approved term limits for their governor and state legislators. Passage of the citizen-initiated ballot measure came after a campaign largely funded by an outside term limits group and boosted within the state by far-right conservatives. Lawmakers will now be limited to eight years each in the state House and Senate. The governor couldn’t be elected more than twice. Supporters say the limits will bring in new blood more often and increase voter participation. Opponents said the limits undermine the right of voters to choose their preferred candidates, and that more frequent turnover will diminish institutional knowledge and shift power to lobbyists, agencies and the governor.
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Measure #2 Recreational Marijuana
Yes: 45.05%
No: 54.95%
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ND Secretary of State
Michael Howe (R) 63.21%
Jeffrey Powell (D) 27.47
Charles Tuttle (I) 9.21%
Attorney General
Drew Wrigley (R) 70.95%
Tim Lamb (D) 28.80%
AG Commissioner
Doug Goehring (R) 75.67
Fintan Dooley (D) 24.15%
GF County Commission (3)
Tom Falck 5,605
Kimberly Hagan 7,851 *
Bob Rost 9,277 *
KC Inman 4,368
Lon Kvasager 6,702
Mark Rustad 6,729 *
GF County (Home Rule)
Yes: 8,397 * No: 8,377
GF County ½ Sales Tax
No: 8,998 No: 9,019 *
GF County Attorney
Haley Wamstad 14,740 *
GF Sheriff
Andy Schneider 15,657 *
ND Senate District 43
JoNell Bakke (D) 1,737
Jeff Barta (R) 1,963 *
ND House District 43
Mary Adams (D) 1,713
Ethan Harsell (R) 1,582
Zach Ista (D) 1,716 *
Eric Murphy (R) 1,759 *
ND House District 17
Mark Sanford (R) 3,896 *
Landon Bahl (R) 2,850 *
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East Grand Forks voters elected Ben Pokrzywinski to the Ward 2 council seat on Tuesday. Pokrzywinski garnered 245 votes for the win over incumbent Clarence Vetter and Karen Peterson. Vetter received 219 votes and Peterson 103.
In Ward 4 Dale Helms narrowly defeated Tim Johnson 187 to 174. The two current council members were pitted against each other because of redistricting following the most recent census.
Over 415 write-in ballots were cast in the at Large race which featured no ballot candidates.
In the five way battle for three seats on the East Grand Forks School Board the candidates receiving the most votes were: Amanda Holweger…Josh Perkeriwicz…and Lindsey King.
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Democrat Tim Walz has won a second term as Minnesota’s governor. Walz fended off a challenge by Republican Scott Jensen, a family practice physician who grabbed national attention with his vaccine skepticism. Walz led Minnesota through the COVID-19 pandemic — including lockdowns, school shutdowns and business closures. He also led the state through the unrest that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. He made support for abortion rights a centerpiece of his campaign. Jensen hammered Walz for rising crime, including failing to control damaging protests after Floyd’s death, and for what he called damaging shutdowns during the coronavirus. But Jensen proved vulnerable on abortion.
Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has defeated Republican newcomer Jim Schultz to win a second term in a race that turned largely on crime and abortion. Ellison led the prosecution team that got former police Officer Derek Chauvin convicted of murdering George Floyd. Schultz is a 37-year-old hedge fund attorney who made crime his top issue. He accused Ellison of being at the forefront of the “defund the police” movement that arose Floyd’s death in Minneapolis convulsed the country in 2020. He also accused Ellison of doing too little to stop a massive fraud scheme in a program that helped feed children during the pandemic. Ellison made his support for abortion rights the centerpiece of his campaign.
Democrats have taken control of both chambers of the Minnesota Legislature, putting the party in full control of state government for the first time since 2014. Republican Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller conceded Wednesday morning that his party had lost its majority to Senate Democrats. That followed a concession earlier Wednesday from GOP House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt and the re-election of Democratic Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday night. While several legislative races were yet to be called as of Wednesday morning, Democrats appeared to be on pace to exceed the 68 seats they need to preserve their House majority, while Democrats appeared to have the 34 seats they need to control the Senate.
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