Republican State Auditor Josh Gallion, left, is challenged by Democratic-NPL Party candidate Tim Lamb in the 2024 general election. (Photos contributed via the North Dakota Monitor)
(Mary Steurer – North Dakota Monitor) -Josh Gallion will serve another term as North Dakota’s state auditor, voters decided Tuesday.
The Republican incumbent led with 68% of the vote in early results. Democratic-NPL candidate Tim Lamb, an attorney from Grand Forks, had about 31% of votes. The Associated Press called the race for Gallion at 10:25 p.m.
Gallion has been state auditor since 2016.
In his campaign, he highlighted updates to the State Auditor’s Office’s policies and procedures, as well as improved communication with the public as some of his major accomplishments in the job.
His office also advocated for a law passed in 2023 that simplified periodic auditing requirements for small governments. Gallion said this change helped reduce what has historically been a significant cost to small communities.
He has promised to keep transparency a priority in his next term, including by making auditing data easier for members of the public to access and analyze.
Before becoming auditor, Gallion spent time in the Air Force in addition to working for the North Dakota Public Service Commission and the North Dakota Department of Transportation.
Lamb has been critical of Gallion’s administration, pointing to cost complaints from local governments and a pending performance audit of the State Auditor’s Office ordered by lawmakers last year. He has said North Dakota needs a Democrat in office to uphold transparency in state government transparency.
Gallion has said his office is routinely evaluated on both its performance and its compliance with financial regulations, and that the additional audit is unnecessary. He also said his office has changed its policies to make sure clients are never caught off guard by unexpected costs.
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