Governor of North Dakota

North Dakota Governor
General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
2011-2013 FY Budget:	$25,291,658
Term limits:	None
Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Authority:	North Dakota Constitution, Article V, Section I
Selection Method:	Elected
Current Officeholder
Name:	Jack Dalrymple
Officeholder Party:	Republican
Assumed office:	December 7, 2010
Compensation:	$110,283
Elections
Next election:	November 8, 2016
Last election:	November 6, 2012
Other North Dakota Executive Offices
Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Auditor • Superintendent of Education • Agriculture Commissioner • Insurance Commissioner • Natural Resources Commissioner • Labor Commissioner • Public Service Commission • Tax Commissioner

The Governor of the State of North Dakota is an elected Constitutional officer, the head of the Executive branch, and the highest state office in North Dakota. The Governor is popularly elected every four years by a plurality and is has no term limit.

As of May 2013, North Dakota is one of 24 Republican state government trifectas.

Current officer

The 32nd and current governor is Jack Dalrymple, a Republican appointed in December 2010 after John Hoeven resigned to become a U.S. Senator. Dalrymple is eligible for re-election in 2012.

Authority

The state Constitution addresses the office of the governor in Article V, the Executive Department.

Under Article V, Section I:

The executive power is vested in the governor...

Qualifications

A candidate for governor must be:

• at least 30 years old
• a resident of North Dakota for at least five years
• a duly registered elector of North Dakota

Elections

See also: North Dakota gubernatorial election, 2012

North Dakota elects governors in the Presidential elections, that is, in leap years. For North Dakota, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 are all gubernatorial election years. Legally, the gubernatorial inauguration is always set for the fifteenth of December following an election. Thus, December 15, 2012 and December 15, 2016 are inaugural days.

If two candidates are tied after the general election, a special joint session of the legislature shall cast ballots to choose among the two highest vote getters.

2012

See also: North Dakota gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2012

Incumbent Jack Dalrymple (R) ran for election to a full, four-year term in 2012. His running mate was Drew Wrigley, his current lieutenant governor. In the general election in November, they defeated Democrats Ryan Taylor & Ellen Chaffee and two pairs of independent nominees, Roland Riemers & Anthony Johns and Paul Sorum & Michael Coachman.

Governor/Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jack Dalrymple & Drew Wrigley Incumbent	63.1%	200,525
	Democratic	Ryan Taylor & Ellen Chaffee	34.3%	109,048
	independent	Paul Sorum & Michael Coachman	1.7%	5,356
	independent	Roland Riemers & Anthony Johns	0.8%	2,618
Total Votes				317,547
Election Results via North Dakota Secretary of State.

Term limits

See also: States with gubernatorial term limits

North Dakota governors do not face any term limits.

Partisan composition

The chart below shows the partisan breakdown of North Dakota State Governors from 1992-2013.

Vacancies

See also: How gubernatorial vacancies are filled

Details of vacancies are addressed under Article V, Section 11.

The Lieutenant Governor succeeds to the office whenever the office is vacant for any reason.

If the Lieutenant Governor is unable to serve, the Secretary of State serves as Acting Governor until the vacancy is filled or until the governor's disability is removed.

Additionally, under Article V, Section 10, and Governor who asks for or accepts any bribe automatically forfeits the office.

Duties

The governor has the power to sign and veto laws, and to call the Legislative Assembly into emergency session. The governor is also chairman of the North Dakota Industrial Commission. The governor is responsible for seeing that the state's laws are upheld.

The governor is commander-in-chief of the state's military forces, except when they are called into the service of the United States. The governor may prescribe the duties of the lieutenant governor. Additionally, the governor is responsible for presenting the state budget to the legislative assembly.

Other duties and privileges of the office include:

• Seeing that business of the state is "well administered" (§ 7)

• Addressing the legislature periodically on the state of the North Dakota and making recommendations for legislation (§ 7)

• Granting reprieves, pardons, and commutations and delegating that power within the confines of the law (§ 7)

• Making vacancy appointments to all offices not otherwise provided for, with the consent of the Senate (§ 8)

• Vetoing bills, subject to a two-thirds legislative override (§ 9)

State budget

The budget for the Governor's office in Fiscal Year 2011-2013 was $25,291,658.

Compensation

See also: Compensation of state executive officers and Comparison of gubernatorial salaries

In 2012, the North Dakota Governor was paid an estimated $110,283. This figure comes from the Council of State Governments.

History

Partisan balance 1992-2013

See also: Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States and Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, North Dakota’’

Partisan breakdown of the North Dakota governorship from 1992-2013

From 1992-2013, in North Dakota there were Democratic governors in office for the first year while there were Republican governors in office for the last 21 years. North Dakota is one of eight states that were run by a Republican governor for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013. North Dakota has been under Republican trifectas for the last 19 years.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992-2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of North Dakota, the North Dakota State Senate and the North Dakota House of Representatives from 1992-2013.

Contact information

Office of the Governor
State of North Dakota
600 East Boulevard Avenue
Bismarck, North Dakota 58505-0001

• Phone: 701.328.2200
  
• Fax: 701.328.2205
  
• E-Mail: governor@nd.gov

See also

• North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple
• Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota
• Lieutenant Governor Drew Wrigley
• North Dakota Attorney General
• North Dakota Secretary of State

External links

Suggest a link

• Office of the North Dakota Governor