The 2016 North Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2016, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of North Dakota, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. This would have been the first time North Dakotans selected a governor under new voter ID requirements, in which a student ID was insufficient identification to vote, but a court ruling in August 2016 struck the down the provision; the election was held under the 2013 rules.
The primaries took place on June 14. This is the first open seat election since 2000. Incumbent Republican Jack Dalrymple announced that he would not run for re-election to a second full term in office. Businessman Doug Burgum (R) defeated state representative Marvin Nelson (DNPL) in the general election to become the new governor of North Dakota.
In December 2010, Republican Governor John Hoeven resigned after being elected to the U.S. Senate. Jack Dalrymple, the lieutenant governor, was sworn in as governor and was elected to a full term in 2012. In August 2015, Dalrymple announced that he would not run for re-election to a second full term in office.
The North Dakota Republican Party endorsed North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem at their April 2âÂÂ3 state convention. However, ballot access was actually determined by the June 14 primary election, which former Microsoft executive Doug Burgum won in an upset.
To endorse a candidate, delegates to the Republican state convention voted for one candidate in a series of rounds. After the first round, all candidates would remain on the ballot, but after subsequent rounds of voting, the recipient of the lowest number of votes would be removed. The first candidate to receive more than half the cast vote would receive the state party endorsement.
After no candidate received the majority in the first round, a second round of voting was completed, in which enough delegates voted for Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem to give him the endorsement without having to remove a candidate from the ballot or vote again.