North Dakota 2012 Election Results

Ballot Measures, June 12, 2012

North Dakota voters decided 4 statewide ballot measures on June 12, 2012.

Ballot measures

General Election, November 6, 2012

North Dakota held its general election on November 6, 2012, deciding 75 legislative seats across 50 districts and 5 statewide offices led by the governorship. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• Republicans kept two-thirds of both chambers, though the chambers moved in opposite directions: House Republicans grew from 69-25 to 71-23 while Democrats trimmed the Senate majority from 35-12 to 33-14.
• Gov. Jack Dalrymple (R) won his first full term, beating state Sen. Ryan Taylor (D) by about 29 points. Dalrymple had moved up from lieutenant governor when John Hoeven went to the U.S. Senate. Taylor, a rancher, had argued Dalrymple failed to keep ahead of the Oil Patch's explosive growth. Republican incumbents also held the four other statewide offices on the ballot: Lt. Gov. Drew Wrigley (R), Auditor Robert Peterson (R), Treasurer Kelly Schmidt (R), and Insurance Commissioner Adam Hamm (R).
• In the Senate, Democrats took two Republican-held seats. George B. Sinner (D) beat Sen. Jim Roers (R) by about 320 votes in Fargo's Senate District 46, where Roers had been appointed after Sen. Tom Fischer died, and John Grabinger (D) won the open Senate District 12 by about 110 votes.
• Each House district elects two members. On the new maps, five sitting House members lost:
  • In House District 4, Rep. Kenton Onstad (D) finished first and Rep. Glen Froseth (R), who had represented the old District 6, took the second seat, leaving Rep. Tom Conklin (D) about 300 votes short.
  • Alex Looysen (R) edged Rep. Lyle Hanson (D) for the second seat in House District 12, and Alan Fehr (R) beat Rep. Shirley Meyer (D) by about 250 votes in House District 36.
  • In House District 44, Josh Boschee (D) topped the field and Rep. Donald Clark (R) finished fourth.
  • Rep. Robert Kilichowski (D), who had represented the old District 16, finished about 530 votes short of a seat in House District 19.
  The closest finish was in House District 24, where Dwight Kiefert (R) took the second seat by 50 votes.
• Voters approved 4 of 5 November measures, including Measure 4, which banned smoking in public places and worksites, and Measure 3, a constitutional protection for farming and ranching practices. They rejected Measure 5, an animal cruelty initiative, by nearly two to one.

Legislature

• House (94 seats): 25 D, 69 R before the election, 23 D, 71 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
• Senate (47 seats): 12 D, 35 R before the election, 14 D, 33 R after; control stayed with Republicans.

Statewide races

Legislative races

Ballot measures