North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum today (Wed) announced his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, adding his name to the long list of contenders hoping to dent former President Donald Trump’s early lead in the race.
During a 22-minute speech in Fargo heard on KNOX Radio, Burgum said, “to unlock the best of America, we need a leader who’s clearly focused on three things: economy, energy and national security, and that is why today, I’m officially announcing I am running for President of the United States of America.”
Burgum emphasized his small town roots, adding: “Where we come from, when something isn’t working, you stop and you try something new. That’s common sense. Joe Biden has got to go.”
Burgum, 66, was first elected as governor in 2016, re-elected in 2020 and is eligible to run for a third time in 2024. In 1983, he founded Great Plains Software, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2011.
In a statement, North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party Chair Adam Goldwyn said that, as governor, Burgum “signed one of the strictest abortion bans in the nation and threatened doctors, nurses, and other health care workers with jail; banned books and penalized librarians and teachers, and sold out the state’s family farmers to multinational corporations.”
Goldwyn added: “The last thing the country needs is another bored billionaire whose need for attention is greater than his commitment to the American people as the President of the greatest country in the world. Burgum’s Presidential campaign will be short, but the harm he has done to North Dakotans will last generations.”
The GOP nominee is expected to face Democratic President Joe Biden in November 2024.
Burgum plans to be in Iowa on Thursday and Friday, and in New Hampshire on Saturday and Sunday.
Former Vice President Mike Pence also formally declared his candidacy today in Iowa.
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