North Dakota held its general election on November 3, 2020, deciding 69 legislative seats across 46 districts and 7 statewide offices led by the governorship. No chamber changed party control.
Highlights
- Republicans widened the supermajorities they already held in both chambers, giving them their widest Senate margin since 1969. The election's lasting fight came afterward, over a House seat won by a candidate who had died.
- David Andahl (R) died of COVID-19 on October 5 but still won one of District 8's two House seats alongside Dave Nehring (R). The pair had ousted House Appropriations Chairman Jeff Delzer in the June primary with help from a group funded by Gov. Doug Burgum (R). After the election Burgum tried to appoint coal executive Wade Boeshans to Andahl's seat, while District 8 Republicans named Delzer. The state Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the governor lacked authority to fill the vacancy, and it rejected a claim to the seat by third-place finisher Kathrin Volochenko (D). Delzer was sworn in December 1.
- Republicans unseated 3 Democratic senators, accounting for every Senate seat that changed parties. Two longtime senators who served during the only period of Democratic Senate control, 1986 to 1994, lost: Larry Robinson (D) to Mike Wobbema (R) in SD 24 by about 2 points, and Jim Dotzenrod (D) to Jason Heitkamp (R) in SD 26. Assistant Minority Leader John Grabinger (D) lost SD 12 to Cole Conley (R). In the House, Republicans picked up an open seat in two-seat HD 20, where Mike Beltz (R) and Jared Hagert (R) won both seats.
- Burgum swept to a second term, beating Shelley Lenz (D) by about 40 points. Republicans kept every statewide office: Auditor Josh Gallion (R) and Public Service Commissioner Brian Kroshus (R) were re-elected, state Rep. Thomas Beadle (R) won the treasurer's office Kelly Schmidt left open, and Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread (R) ran unopposed after the state Supreme Court ruled the Democratic nominee ineligible. In the nonpartisan race for superintendent of public instruction, Kirsten Baesler won another term over Brandt Dick.
- Beyond the flips, 3 legislative races finished inside two points, all in two-seat House districts. The closest was HD 18 in Grand Forks, where Rep. Corey Mock (D) kept the second seat by fewer than 20 votes over Cindy Kaml (R). Republicans kept the second seats in HD 16 and HD 46: Rep. Andrew Marschall (R) finished about 340 votes ahead of Tracey Wilkie (D), and Rep. Jim Kasper (R) about 280 ahead of Ben Hanson (D).
- Voters rejected both measures the Legislature had placed on the ballot. Constitutional Measure 1, which grew out of a Burgum task force, would have expanded the Board of Higher Education from eight members to 15 and lengthened terms. Constitutional Measure 2 would have sent voter-approved constitutional amendments to the Legislature and, if lawmakers balked, back to voters a second time; opponents called it a power grab by the Legislature.
Legislature
- House (94 seats): 16 D, 77 R, 1 other or vacant before the election, 14 D, 80 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
- Senate (47 seats): 10 D, 37 R before the election, 7 D, 40 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
Statewide races
Legislative races
| Race | Winner | Others | Notes |
|---|
| House 2 | Donald Longmuir (R) 50.4%, Bert Anderson (R) 48.8% | Unopposed | |
| House 4 | Clayton Fegley (R) 34.54%, Terry Burton Jones (R) 31.62% | Thomasina Mandan (D) 18.23%, Hunter Andes (D) 15.6% | |
| House 6 | Dick Anderson (R) 39.5%, Paul Thomas (R) 36.9% | Trygve Hammer (D) 11.8%, Arnold Langehaug (D) 11.7% | |
| House 8 | Dave Nehring (R) 40.7%, David Andahl (R) 35.5% | Kathrin Volochenko (D) 11.4%, Linda Babb (D) 9.9% | |
| House 10 | Dave Monson (R) 38.6%, Charles Damschen (R) 35.4% | Elsie Blair Magnus (D) 13.7%, Melissa Anderson (D) 12.3% | |
| House 12 | Bernie Satrom (R) 31.6%, Mitch Ostlie (R) 30.7% | Pam Musland (D) 20.4%, George Barnes (D) 16.9% | |
| House 14 | Jon Nelson (R) 38.7%, Robin Weisz (R) 38.1% | Marvin Nelson (D) 12.1%, Richard Lynne (D) 11% | |
| House 16 | Ben Koppelman (R) 29.3%, Andrew Marschall (R) 25.8% | Tracey Wilkie (D) 24%, Hamida Dakane (D) 20.8% | |
| House 18 | Steve Vetter (R) 28.2%, Corey Mock (D) 25% | Cindy Kaml (R) 24.8%, Jacqueline Hoffarth (D) 21.9% | |
| House 20 | Mike Beltz (R) 34.5%, Jared Hagert (R) 33.3% | John Pederson (D) 16.5%, Zachary Blotsky (D) 15.6% | Flipped D to R |
| House 22 | Michael Howe (R) 34.3%, Brandy Pyle (R) 34.1% | Jodi Meisch (D) 17.1%, Will Thompson (D) 14.5% | |
| House 24 | Dwight Kiefert (R) 29.3%, Cole Christensen (R) 28.3% | Naomi Muscha (D) 22.6%, Bradley Edin (D) 19.7% | |
| House 26 | Kathy Skroch (R) 30.8%, Sebastian Ertelt (R) 27.1% | John Hokana (D) 22%, Alan Peterson (D) 20.1% | |
| House 28 | Jeff Magrum (R) 43.8%, Mike Brandenburg (R) 41.8% | Rebecca Phillips (D) 13.6% | |
| House 30 | Glenn Bosch (R) 49.3%, Mike Nathe (R) 49.2% | Unopposed | |
| House 32 | Pat Heinert (R) 34.7%, Lisa Meier (R) 34.3% | Krisanna Holkup Peterson (D) 16.1%, Carl Young (D) 14.7% | |
| House 34 | Todd Porter (R) 36.68%, Nathan Toman (R) 35.86% | Joshua Johnson (D) 14.33%, Bernie Parkhurst (D) 13.04% | |
| House 36 | Mike Schatz (R) 41.6%, Luke Simons (R) 38.6% | Linda Weiss (D) 6.9%, Steve Krebs (D) 6.7% | |
| House 38 | Dan Ruby (R) 50.6%, Larry Bellew (R) 47.7% | Unopposed | |
| House 40 | Matt Ruby (R) 36.2%, Randy Schobinger (R) 33.1% | Kalyn Dewitt (D) 15.9%, Robert E Kibler (D) 14.7% | |
| House 42 | Emily O'Brien (R) 29.1%, Claire Cory (R) 26.1% | Adam Fortwengler (D) 22.5%, Zachary Tomczik (D) 22.4% | |
| House 44 | Karla Rose Hanson (D) 35.8%, Josh Boschee (D) 33.7% | Scott Wagner (R) 29.8% | |
| House 46 | Shannon Roers Jones (R) 27.8%, Jim Kasper (R) 25.4% | Ben Hanson (D) 23.4% | |
| Senate 2 | David Rust (R) 99% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 4 | Jordan Kannianen (R) 67.8% | Lisa Finley-DeVille (D) 32.1% | |
| Senate 6 | Shawn Vedaa (R) 72.7% | Morris Holen, Jr. (D) 27.2% | |
| Senate 8 | Howard Anderson (R) 98.4% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 10 | Janne Myrdal (R) 74.3% | Charles Hart (D) 25.6% | |
| Senate 12 | Cole Conley (R) 56% | John Grabinger (D) 43.8% | Flipped D to R; Incumbent defeated |
| Senate 14 | Jerry Klein (R) 79.2% | Jenna Vanhorne (D) 20.7% | |
| Senate 16 | David Clemens (R) 52.1% | Kari Breker (D) 47.7% | |
| Senate 18 | Scott Meyer (R) 53.8% | Kyle Thorson (D) 46.1% | |
| Senate 20 | Randy Lemm (R) 68.8% | Paul Hanson (D) 31.1% | |
| Senate 22 | Mark Weber (R) 68.3% | Laetitia Hellerud (D) 31.7% | |
| Senate 24 | Mike Wobbema (R) 50.9% | Larry Robinson (D) 49% | Flipped D to R; Incumbent defeated |
| Senate 26 | Jason Heitkamp (R) 52.7% | Jim Dotzenrod (D) 47.2% | Flipped D to R; Incumbent defeated |
| Senate 28 | Robert Erbele (R) 98.5% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 30 | Diane Larson (R) 97.8% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 32 | Dick Dever (R) 65.1% | Amelia Doll (D) 34.6% | |
| Senate 34 | Doug Larsen (R) 73% | Adam Michal (D) 26.8% | |
| Senate 36 | Jay Elkin (R) 97.4% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 38 | David Hogue (R) 98.1% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 40 | Karen Krebsbach (R) 96.7% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 42 | Curt Kreun (R) 53.4% | Melissa Gjellstad (D) 46.5% | |
| Senate 44 | Merrill Piepkorn (D) 54.1% | Tim Flakoll (R) 45.7% | |
| Senate 46 | Jim Roers (R) 54% | Terri Hedman (D) 45.9% | |
Ballot measures
| Measure | Description | Result |
|---|
| Constitutional Measure 1 | Increases the membership of the Board of Higher Education from eight to 15, increases term length from four years to six years, and restricts membership | Failed (27.5% yes) |
| Constitutional Measure 2 | Requires initiated constitutional amendments passed by voters to be submitted to the legislature; if the legislature does not approve the measure, the measure would need to be placed on the ballot again, and will become effective if approved by the voters a second time | Failed (38.4% yes) |