Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Review Articles: North Dakota State Executive Officials
December 13, 2012
Bismark, North Dakota: Seven state executive positions were up for election this year in the state of North Dakota:
Incumbents ran for re-election in the races for governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer, auditor and insurance commissioner. The incumbent superintendent of public instruction, Wayne Sanstead, who has held the office since 1985, and Tony Clark, the incumbent chair of the North Dakota Public Service Commission, did not run for re-election.[1][2]
In North Dakota, the governor and lieutenant governor are elected on a single ticket, and from the start, incumbent team Jack Dalrymple and Drew Wrigley have been considered shoe-ins for re-election in 2012. Yet the campaign season has not been devoid of drama. For some of the challengers who entered the race this year, early setbacks coupled with the likelihood of eventual defeat meant the road ended sooner than later. For others, like Roland Clifford Riemers and Paul Sorum, the prospect of further disappointment was not sufficient to end their pursuit of the governorship, and both paved alternate roads to the general election ballot.
In July, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem ruled that the "single ticket" stipulation applies to the primary election as well. The ruling effectively removed two presumptive candidates from the ballot for this year's general election.Libertarian candidates Roland Riemers and Richard Ames filed their joint candidacy with the North Dakota Secretary of State, but Ames' application was missing a page and deemed invalid. Riemers ran by himself in the primary election and received more than the requisite 300 votes to appear on the general election ballot, but before Secretary of State Al Jaeger certified the results of the primary, he sought an opinion from Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem. According to the state constitution, the governor and lieutenant governor must be elected on a joint ballot. Stenehjem, citing the constitution and the North Dakota Century Code, ruled that Riemers' candidacy is invalid because there was no lieutenant governor candidate on the ballot with him.[3][4]
Only one set of challengers, Democrats Ryan Taylor and Ellen Chaffee, were tapped at their party's statewide nominating convention for the chance to unseat Dalrymple and Wrigley in November. Later on, however, two Independent pairs earned a place on the general election ballot. Roland Riemers, returning with a vengeance and a new running-mate, Anthony Johns, will get to advance after all, along with Independent nominated duo Paul Sorum & Michael Coachman (I).[5]
Incumbent treasurer Kelly Schmidt ran unopposed in the primary election and defeated Democrat Ross Mushik in the general election.[6][7]
Auditor Robert Peterson won re-election in 2012. He was unopposed in the primary election and defeated State Rep. Scot Kelsh (R) in the November general election.[8][7]
North Dakota Commissioner of Insurance Adam Hamm also won re-election in 2012. He was unopposed in the primary election and defeated Democrat Tom Potter in the general election.[9][7]
Kirsten Baesler won election as North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2012. She won Republican Party support during the party's convention, where she defeated Rep. David Monson by a vote of 863-725.[10] Baesler defeated Max Laird and Tracy Potter in the primary on June 12, coming in first.[11] She defeated Potter in the general election on November 6, 2012.[7]
Randel Christmann won election to the North Dakota Public Service Commission in 2012.[12] He was unopposed in the June 12 Republican primary and defeated Brad Crabtree (D) and Joshua Voytek (L) in the general election on November 6, 2012.[9][7]
Here are the candidates who won election:[7]
| Office | Incumbent | General Election Candidates | 2015 Winner | Partisan Switch? |
| Governor | Jack Dalrymple  |
 Ryan Taylor Peter Cooke Paul SorumRoland Riemers |
Jack Dalrymple | No |
| Lieutenant Governor | Drew Wrigley  |
Ellen Chaffee Drew Wrigley Anthony JohnsonMichael Coachman |
Drew Wrigley | No |
| Treasurer | Kelly Schmidt  |
Ross Mushik Kelly Schmidt |
Kelly Schmidt | No |
| Auditor | Robert Peterson  |
Scot KelshRobert Peterson |
Robert Peterson | No |
| Commissioner of Insurance | Adam Hamm  |
Tom PotterAdam Hamm |
Adam Hamm | No |
| Superintendent of Public Instruction | Wayne Sanstead  |
Kirsten BaeslerTracy Potter |
Kirsten Baesler | No |
| Public Service Commissioner | Tony Clark  |
Brad CrabtreeRandy Christmann Joshua Voytek |
Randy Christmann | No |
Official Results
Governor and Lieutenant Governor
| 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 | ||||
Insurance Commissioner
| North Dakota Commissioner of Insurance General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Adam Hamm Incumbent |
63.3% | 192,031 | |
| Democratic | Tom Potter | 36.7% | 111,099 | |
| Total Votes | 303,130 | |||
| Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State | ||||
Treasurer
| North Dakota Treasurer General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Kelly Schmidt Incumbent |
65.9% | 197,041 | |
| Democratic | Ross Mushik | 34.1% | 101,795 | |
| Total Votes | 298,836 | |||
| Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State | ||||
Auditor
| North Dakota State Auditor General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Robert Peterson Incumbent |
62.6% | 188,859 | |
| Democratic | Scot Kelsh | 37.4% | 112,803 | |
| Total Votes | 301,662 | |||
| Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State | ||||
Superintendent of Public Instruction
| North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Kirsten Baesler |
55.1% | 154,177 | |
| Nonpartisan | Tracy Potter | 44.6% | 124,807 | |
| N/A | Write-in | 0.4% | 1,069 | |
| Total Votes | 280,053 | |||
| Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State | ||||
Public Service Commission
| North Dakota Public Service Commission General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Randy Christmann |
54.6% | 164,591 | |
| Democratic | Brad Crabtree | 41.1% | 123,978 | |
| Libertarian | Joshua Voytek | 4.3% | 13,098 | |
| Total Votes | 301,667 | |||
| Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State | ||||
National picture
There were 94 total seats up for election across 22 states this year, including 11 Governors, 9 Lt. Governors, 10 Attorneys General, 7 Secretaries of State and 57 down ballot seats.
- Before the election, 51 of these offices were held by Democrats, 38 were held by Republicans, and the remaining 4 positions were held by non partisan or Independent officers . After the election, Democrats hold 49 (net loss of 2 seats), Republicans 42 (net gain of 4 seats), and Independents/non partisans only 1 (loss of 3).
- Of the 69 incumbents who ran for election in 2012, 7 were defeated-6 Democrat and 1 Republican. Democratic Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau narrowly escaped that fate, having had to wait for her challenger to cancel a self-financed recount on December 11, 2012 before being named the official winner.[13]
- Out of 25 total open seats, 13 were won by Democrats, 11 went to Republican, and 1 went to an Independent (nonpartisan) candidate. In all, there are 34 new state executives as a result of the election.
- From the gubernatorial perspective, after the November 2012 election, there are 30 Republican and 19 Democratic governors.[14] If the GOP had taken five governor seats from Democrats on November 6, that would have given the party 34 -- the most for Republicans since 1922. As of December 2012, the number of Democratic governors in the country is at its lowest since 2001.
| 2012 State Executive Election Partisan Breakdown | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Before 2012 Election | After 2012 Election | Net Change | ||||||||
| Democratic | 51 | 50 | -1 | ||||||||
| Republican | 38 | 43 | +5 | ||||||||
| Independent (Nonpartisan) | 4 | 1 | -3 | ||||||||
| TOTALS | 931 vacant | 94 | |||||||||
| 2012 State Executive Election Analysis | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Open Seat Winners | Defeated Incumbents | New State Executives | ||||||||
| Democratic | 13 | 6 | 15 | ||||||||
| Republican | 11 | 1 | 18 | ||||||||
| Independent (Nonpartisan) | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| TOTALS | 25 | 7 | 34 | ||||||||
See also
- Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Review Articles: North Dakota Congressional Seats
- Ballotpedia:2012 general election preview articles
- November 6, 2012 election results
- State executive official elections, 2012
- Ballotpedia:Statewide projections for the November 6, 2012 elections
- North Dakota state executive official elections, 2012
- North Dakota down ballot state executive elections, 2012
- North Dakota gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2012
- Swearing-in dates of state executives elected on November 6, 2012
Footnotes
|
- ↑ Desert News, "ND school superintendent Wayne Sanstead retiring," February 17, 2012
- ↑ The Republic.com, "ND public service commissioner Tony Clark says he won't run for re-election in 2012," May 5, 2011
- ↑ The Jamestown Sun, "Libertarian governor candidate won't be on the ballot," July 6, 2012
- ↑ The Jamestown Sun, "Grand Forks man running for governor won't be on ballot," July 6, 2012
- ↑ North Dakota Secretary of State, "Candidate Database 2012 General Election," accessed October 31, 2012
- ↑ North Dakota Secretary of State, "Unofficial results, primary election," accessed June 12, 2012
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Bismark Tribune, "General Election Results" accessed November 6, 2012
- ↑ North Dakota Secretary of State, "Unofficial results, primary election," accessed June 12, 2012
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 North Dakota Secretary of State, "Unofficial results, primary election," accessed June 12, 2012
- ↑ Grand Forks Herald, "Baesler backed by GOP for N.D. school superintendent," April 1, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ Devils Lake Journal, "ND primary election to be held Tuesday," June 6, 2012
- ↑ Wisconsin Rapids Tribune, "Christmann the GOP pick for ND PSC," March 31, 2012
- ↑ The Missoulian, "Welch drops request for recount in school superintendent race," December 12, 2012
- ↑ NPR "Republican Governors Gear Up For Election Gains," October 18, 2012
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