North Dakota 2014 Election Results

Ballot Measures, June 10, 2014

North Dakota voters decided 1 statewide ballot measure on June 10, 2014.

Ballot measures

General Election, November 4, 2014

North Dakota held its general election on November 4, 2014, deciding 72 legislative seats across 48 districts and 6 statewide offices. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• Republicans kept their trifecta and two-thirds majorities in both chambers, but voters rejected the Measure 1 right-to-life amendment by a wide margin and unseated its chief sponsor, Sen. Margaret Sitte (R).
• Democrats' only Senate gain came in Bismarck, where Erin Oban (D) unseated Sitte by about 14 points in Senate District 35, trimming the Republican majority to 32-15. In the House, the parties traded seats, leaving the chamber at 71-23:
  • In Fargo, Pamela Anderson (D) topped the field in two-seat House District 41, ousting Rep. Bette Grande (R), who with Sitte was among the Legislature's strongest advocates for anti-abortion legislation. Al Carlson (R), the House majority leader, kept the district's other seat.
  • Rep. Ed Gruchalla (D) lost to Tom Kading (R) and Mary Johnson (R) in House District 45.
• Republicans swept the statewide races. Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring (R) beat Ryan Taylor (D), a former state senator, by about 14 points. Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem (R) won by about 48 points and Secretary of State Alvin Jaeger (R) by about 30.
• Of the 8 measures on the November ballot, voters approved only Measure 2, barring taxes on property transfers. Measure 5, which would have dedicated 5 percent of oil and gas extraction taxes to conservation for 25 years, drew only about a fifth of the vote despite more than $4.2 million from conservation groups. Voters also turned down a full-time higher education commission (Measure 3), a rewrite of initiative and referral rules (Measure 4), a parental custody presumption (Measure 6), a change to pharmacy ownership rules (Measure 7), and a post-Labor Day school start (Measure 8).

Legislature

• House (94 seats): 23 D, 71 R before the election, 23 D, 71 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
• Senate (47 seats): 14 D, 33 R before the election, 15 D, 32 R after; control stayed with Republicans.

Statewide races

Legislative races

Ballot measures