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Michael Howe
2023 - Present
2027
2
Michael Howe (Republican Party) is the North Dakota Secretary of State. He assumed office on January 1, 2023. His current term ends on January 1, 2027.
Howe (Republican Party) ran for election for North Dakota Secretary of State. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Biography
Michael Howe lives in West Fargo, North Dakota.[1] Howe earned a B.S. in broadcast journalism and mass communications from North Dakota State University in 2010. His career experience includes working as a managing partner of Howe Seed Farms, the director of legislative affairs and communications director of the North Dakota Corn Growers Association, and a legislative assistant with the U.S. House of Representatives.[2]
Political career
Below is a list of offices within Ballotpedia’s scope. Offices outside of that scope will not be listed. If an update is needed and the office is within our scope, please contact us.
Howe's political career includes the following offices:
- 2023-present: North Dakota Secretary of State
- 2016-2022: North Dakota House of Representatives District 22
Elections
2022
See also: North Dakota Secretary of State election, 2022
General election
General election for North Dakota Secretary of State
Michael Howe defeated Jeffrey Powell and Charles Tuttle in the general election for North Dakota Secretary of State on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Michael Howe (R) | 63.2 | 147,816 |
 | Jeffrey Powell (D)  | 27.5 | 64,254 | |
 | Charles Tuttle (Independent) | 9.2 | 21,517 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 241 | ||
| Total votes: 233,828 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for North Dakota Secretary of State
Jeffrey Powell advanced from the Democratic primary for North Dakota Secretary of State on June 14, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jeffrey Powell | 99.7 | 21,897 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 57 | ||
| Total votes: 21,954 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for North Dakota Secretary of State
Michael Howe defeated Marvin Lepp in the Republican primary for North Dakota Secretary of State on June 14, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Michael Howe | 67.6 | 44,790 |
 | Marvin Lepp | 32.1 | 21,280 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 163 | ||
| Total votes: 66,233 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2020
See also: North Dakota House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for North Dakota House of Representatives District 22 (2 seats)
Incumbent Michael Howe and incumbent Brandy Pyle defeated Jodi Meisch and Will Thompson in the general election for North Dakota House of Representatives District 22 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Michael Howe (R) | 34.3 | 6,824 |
| ✔ |  | Brandy Pyle (R) | 34.1 | 6,780 |
 | Jodi Meisch (D) | 17.1 | 3,414 | |
 | Will Thompson (D) | 14.5 | 2,881 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 11 | ||
| Total votes: 19,910 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for North Dakota House of Representatives District 22 (2 seats)
Jodi Meisch and Will Thompson advanced from the Democratic primary for North Dakota House of Representatives District 22 on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jodi Meisch | 51.5 | 886 |
| ✔ | | Will Thompson | 42.5 | 731 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 6.1 | 105 | ||
| Total votes: 1,722 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for North Dakota House of Representatives District 22 (2 seats)
Incumbent Brandy Pyle and incumbent Michael Howe advanced from the Republican primary for North Dakota House of Representatives District 22 on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Brandy Pyle | 49.2 | 1,802 |
| ✔ | | Michael Howe | 48.6 | 1,779 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.2 | 81 | ||
| Total votes: 3,662 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2016
Elections for the North Dakota House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on June 14, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was April 11, 2016. Incumbents Wesley Belter (R) and Peter Silbernagel (R) did not seek re-election.
Michael Howe and Brandy Pyle defeated Allan Peterson and Marijo Peterson in the North Dakota House of Representatives District 22 general election.[3][4]
| North Dakota House of Representatives, District 22 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Michael Howe |
31.90% | 4,890 | |
| Republican | Brandy Pyle |
32.42% | 4,970 | |
| Democratic | Allan Peterson | 17.46% | 2,677 | |
| Democratic | Marijo Peterson | 18.22% | 2,794 | |
| Total Votes | 15,331 | |||
| Source: North Dakota Secretary of State | ||||
Allan Peterson and Marijo Peterson were unopposed in the North Dakota House of Representatives District 22 Democratic primary.[5][6]
| North Dakota House of Representatives, District 22 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Allan Peterson | |
| Democratic | Marijo Peterson | |
Michael Howe and Brandy Pyle were unopposed in the North Dakota House of Representatives District 22 Republican primary.[5][6]
| North Dakota House of Representatives, District 22 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Michael Howe | |
| Republican | Brandy Pyle | |
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Michael Howe did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Howe's campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
MICHAEL'S PLAN FOR NORTH DAKOTA SECURE OUR ELECTIONS OPEN THE DOOR TO EVERY NEW BUSINESS STRENGTHEN THE ECONOMY CUT RED TAPE[7] |
” |
| —Michael Howe's campaign website (2022)[8] | ||
2020
Michael Howe did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
State legislative tenure
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2021-2022
Howe was assigned to the following committees:
2019-2020
Howe was assigned to the following committees:
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| North Dakota committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Agriculture |
| • Finance and Taxation |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of North Dakota scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2022
In 2022, the North Dakota State Legislature was not in session.
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the North Dakota State Legislature was in session from January 5 to April 29.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the North Dakota State Legislature was not in session. |
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the North Dakota Legislative Assembly was in session from January 3 through April 26.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the North Dakota Legislative Assembly did not hold a regular session. |
2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the 65th North Dakota Legislative Assembly was in session from January 3 through April 27.
|
2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the North Dakota Legislative Assembly did not hold a regular session. |
See also
| North Dakota | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
|---|---|---|
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External links
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Candidate North Dakota Secretary of State |
Officeholder North Dakota Secretary of State |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Michael Howe for Secretary of State, "Meet Michael," accessed December 6, 2022
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Michael Howe," accessed December 6, 2022
- ↑ North Dakota Secretary of State, "2016 General Election Contest/Candidate List," accessed August 21, 2016
- ↑ North Dakota Secretary of State, "Official Results General Election - November 8, 2016," accessed November 28, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 North Dakota Secretary of State, "2016 Primary Election Contest/Candidate List," accessed April 13, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 North Dakota Secretary of State, "Official Results Primary Election - June 14, 2016," accessed August 2, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Michael Howe, “Home,” accessed October 31, 2022
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Al Jaeger (R) |
North Dakota Secretary of State 2023-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by Peter F. Silbernagel (R) |
North Dakota House of Representatives District 22 2016-2022 |
Succeeded by - |
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