BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota’s lone congressman is trying to become the conservative state’s next governor and continue the Republican hold on the job for three decades.
U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong will face Democratic state Sen. Merrill Piepkorn and independent candidate Michael Coachman in Tuesday’s general election.
Armstrong defeated Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller in a Republican primary in June. The winner of the Republican primary is usually an overwhelming favorite in November, given the state’s large Republican majority. Republicans have held the office of governor since 1992.
A Democrat last won a statewide election in North Dakota in 2012, when Heidi Heitkamp swept the U.S. Senate.
Armstrong, 48, served six years in the Senate until 2018, when he won the first of three elections — most recently against former Miss America 2018 Cara Mund — for North Dakota’s lone U.S. House of Representatives seat. A lawyer, he also held previous positions as a senator and state GOP chairman. He owns investments in the oil and gas industry, including a company owned by his family. As governor, he would serve on the three-member Industrial Commission, which regulates a variety of energy activities.
In Congress, Armstrong has supported former President Donald Trump in his fight against two impeachments, voted for federal protections for married same-sex and interracial couples, and was one of former Republican leader Kevin McCarthy’s proposed members of the House of Representatives to serve on a panel intended to investigate the president’s threats. 6 Capitol riot. McCarthy later declined to appoint members to the panel.
Armstrong did not support efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
If elected, Armstrong has said he plans to resign his seat in the House of Representatives a few weeks early so he can take office as governor on December 15. Such a move would reduce Republicans’ already slim majority in the House of Representatives in the final weeks of the current Congress.
If he wins, Armstrong would be back in the Capitol, working with many of the lawmakers he has served with for years. Republicans control the legislature, although they are divided by recent intraparty disagreements.
Piepkorn, 75, has served in the Senate since 2016 and is a member of a shrinking Democratic caucus that holds just four of the chamber’s 47 seats. He represents a district in Fargo, the state’s largest city. Piepkorn is the president of a company that produces TV, film and radio projects, as well as live events. His term in the Senate ends this year.
Coachman is a veteran of the United States Air Force and frequent candidate for office.
The winner will take office Dec. 15 to succeed two-term Republican Gov. Doug Burgum, who did not seek a third term. Burgum, a wealthy software entrepreneur, was a finalist to become Trump’s vice presidential running mate before Trump ultimately chose U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio.
North Dakota’s recent governors have previously worked in business and banking. If he were to win, Armstrong would be the first member of Congress in 52 years to be elected governor of the state.
The state’s revenues and reserves are in good condition. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, North Dakota had an unemployment rate of 2.3% in September, behind only South Dakota and Vermont.
But the new governor and lawmakers could face some thorny issues when the biennial Legislature convenes.
Voters will decide Tuesday whether to approve a measure that would eliminate North Dakota’s current property taxes. And lawmakers could respond to a judge’s decision to strike down the state’s abortion ban. There are major workforce issues, including years of labor shortages and urgent child care needs.
North Dakota’s next governor will be the first to take office under the new term limits voters approved in 2022. Governors cannot be elected more than twice, although Burgum could have run for office again.
Republicans are expected to maintain a supermajority in the Legislature, where issues such as gender identity, book bans, tax cuts, workforce needs and electronic tabs have been high-profile issues in 2023.
