North Dakota held an election for attorney general on November 8, 2022. The primary was scheduled for June 14, 2022. The filing deadline was April 11, 2022. This was one of 30 elections for attorney general taking place in 2022. All 50 states have an attorney general who serves as the state's chief legal officer, responsible for enforcing state law and offering the state government advice on legal matters. In 43 states, the office was, at the time of the 2022 elections, an elected post. At the time of the 2022 elections, there were 27 Republican attorneys general and 23 Democratic attorneys general. Click here for an overview of all 30 attorney general elections that took place in 2022. A state government triplex refers to a situation where the governor, attorney general, and secretary of state are all members of the same political party. Heading into the 2022 elections, there were 23 Republican triplexes, 18 Democratic triplexes, and nine divided governments where neither party held triplex control.

In September 2022, Sabato's Crystal Ball released an analysis of state attorney general election competitiveness. North Dakota's attorney general election was rated as not competitive, meaning the seat was expected to stay in Republican hands: "Long-serving Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem (R) announced he was not running for another term, and former GOP Lt. Governor and former U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley announced his candidacy. Stenehjem later died in office, and Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) appointed Wrigley to replace him. Wrigley will be the clear favorite over Democratic nominee Tim Lamb, an attorney and retired Army officer." Click here to read the analysis.^[1]

Incumbent Drew Wrigley won election in the general election for Attorney General of North Dakota.

For more information about the primaries in this election, click on the links below:

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Attorney General of North Dakota

Incumbent Drew Wrigley defeated Timothy Lamb in the general election for Attorney General of North Dakota on November 8, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Drew Wrigley (R)	70.9	166,517
	Timothy Lamb (D)	28.8	67,609
	Other/Write-in votes	0.2	576

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 234,702
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Attorney General of North Dakota

Timothy Lamb advanced from the Democratic primary for Attorney General of North Dakota on June 14, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Timothy Lamb	99.7	21,451
	Other/Write-in votes	0.3	62

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 21,513
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Attorney General of North Dakota

Incumbent Drew Wrigley advanced from the Republican primary for Attorney General of North Dakota on June 14, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Drew Wrigley	99.4	69,185
	Other/Write-in votes	0.6	383

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 69,568
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Voting information

See also: Voting in North Dakota

Election information in North Dakota: Nov. 8, 2022, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

In-person: N/A
By mail: N/A by N/A
Online: N/A

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

N/A

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

In-person: Nov. 7, 2022
By mail: Received by Nov. 7, 2022
Online: Nov. 7, 2022

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

In-person: Nov. 7, 2022
By mail: Postmarked by Nov. 7, 2022

Was early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What were the early voting start and end dates?

Sep. 29, 2022 to Nov. 7, 2022

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

N/A

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

No candidate in this race completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

Past elections

2018

See also: North Dakota Attorney General election, 2018

General election

General election for Attorney General of North Dakota

Incumbent Wayne Stenehjem defeated David Thompson in the general election for Attorney General of North Dakota on November 6, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Wayne Stenehjem (R)	67.6	215,633
	David Thompson (D)	32.2	102,869
	Other/Write-in votes	0.2	715

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 319,217
= 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 Attorney General of North Dakota

David Thompson advanced from the Democratic primary for Attorney General of North Dakota on June 12, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	David Thompson	99.8	32,217
	Other/Write-in votes	0.2	63

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 32,280
= 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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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Attorney General of North Dakota

Incumbent Wayne Stenehjem advanced from the Republican primary for Attorney General of North Dakota on June 12, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Wayne Stenehjem	99.5	63,839
	Other/Write-in votes	0.5	350

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 64,189
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2014

See also: North Dakota attorney general election, 2014

Republican incumbent Wayne Stenehjem won re-election on November 4, 2014.

Attorney General of North Dakota, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Wayne Stenehjem Incumbent	74.1%	181,678
	Democratic	Kiara Kraus-Parr	25.8%	63,255
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.2%	395
Total Votes				245,328
Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State

Election analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about demographics, past elections, and partisan control of the state.

Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the state.
Statewide elections - Information about recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections in the state.
State partisanship - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.
Demographics - Information about the state's demographics and how they compare to the country as a whole.

Presidential elections

	2026 → ← 2018
North Dakota Attorney General
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election;
Election details
	Filing deadline: April 11, 2022
	Primary: June 14, 2022; General: November 8, 2022; Pre-election incumbent(s):; Drew Wrigley (R)
How to vote
	Poll times: Open between 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.; close between 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Voting in North Dakota
Ballotpedia analysis
	Federal and state primary competitiveness; State executive elections in 2022; Impact of term limits in 2022; State government trifectas; State government triplexes; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2022
North Dakota; executive elections
	Attorney General; Secretary of State; Agriculture Commissioner; Public Service Commission (2 seats); Tax Commissioner

See also: Presidential voting trends in North Dakota and The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Cook PVI by congressional district

Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index for North Dakota, 2022
District	Incumbent	Party	PVI
North Dakota's At-Large	Kelly Armstrong	Republican	R+20

2020 presidential results by 2022 congressional district lines

2020 presidential results in congressional districts based on 2022 district lines, North Dakota^[2]
District	Joe Biden	Donald Trump
North Dakota's At-Large	31.9%	65.5%

2012-2020

How a state's counties vote in a presidential election and the size of those counties can provide additional insights into election outcomes at other levels of government including statewide and congressional races. Below, four categories are used to describe each county's voting pattern over the 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections: Solid, Trending, Battleground, and New. Click [show] on the table below for examples:

County-level voting pattern categories
Democratic
Status	2012	2016	2020
Solid Democratic	D	D	D
Trending Democratic	R	D	D
Battleground Democratic	D	R	D
New Democratic	R	R	D
Republican
Status	2012	2016	2020
Solid Republican	R	R	R
Trending Republican	D	R	R
Battleground Republican	R	D	R
New Republican	D	D	R

Following the 2020 presidential election, 95.7% of North Dakotans lived in one of the state's 47 Solid Republican counties, which voted for the Republican presidential candidate in every election from 2012 to 2020, and 2.2% lived in one of four Trending Republican counties. Overall, North Dakota was Solid Republican, having voted for Mitt Romney (R) in 2012, Donald Trump (R) in 2016, and Donald Trump (R) in 2020. Use the table below to view the total number of each type of county in North Dakota following the 2020 election as well as the overall percentage of the state population located in each county type.

North Dakota county-level statistics, 2020
Solid Republican	47	95.7%
Trending Republican	4	2.2%
Solid Democratic	2	2.1%
Total voted Democratic	2	2.1%
Total voted Republican	51	97.9%

Historical voting trends

North Dakota presidential election results (1900-2020)

5 Democratic wins
26 Republican wins

Year	1900	1904	1908	1912	1916	1920	1924	1928	1932	1936	1940	1944	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020
Winning Party	R	R	R	D	D	R	R	R	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Statewide elections

This section details the results of the five most recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections held in the state.

U.S. Senate elections

See also: List of United States Senators from North Dakota

The table below details the vote in the five most recent U.S. Senate races in North Dakota.

U.S. Senate election results in North Dakota
Race	Winner	Runner up
2018	55.5%	44.5%
2016	78.4%	17.0%
2012	50.2%	49.3%
2010	76.2%	22.2%
2006	66.8%	29.5%
Average	65.4	32.5

Gubernatorial elections

See also: Governor of North Dakota

The table below details the vote in the five most recent gubernatorial elections in North Dakota.

Gubernatorial election results in North Dakota
Race	Winner	Runner up
2020	65.8%	25.4%
2016	76.5%	19.4%
2012	63.1%	34.3%
2008	74.4%	23.5%
2004	71.3%	27.4%
Average	70.2	26.0

State partisanship

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of North Dakota's congressional delegation as of November 2022.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from North Dakota, November 2022
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	0	0	0
Republican	2	1	3
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	1	3

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in North Dakota's top four state executive offices as of November 2022.

State executive officials in North Dakota, November 2022
Office	Officeholder
Governor	Doug Burgum
Lieutenant Governor	Brent Sanford
Secretary of State	Al Jaeger
Attorney General	Drew Wrigley

State legislature

The tables below highlight the partisan composition of the North Dakota Legislative Assembly as of November 2022.

North Dakota State Senate

Party		As of November 2022
	Democratic Party	7
	Republican Party	40
	Vacancies	0
Total		47

North Dakota House of Representatives

Party		As of November 2022
	Democratic Party	14
	Republican Party	80
	Vacancies	0
Total		94

Trifecta control

As of November 2022, North Dakota was a Republican trifecta, with majorities in both chambers of the state legislature and control of the governorship. The table below displays the historical trifecta status of the state.

North Dakota Party Control: 1992-2022
No Democratic trifectas • Twenty-eight years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Governor	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Demographics

The table below details demographic data in North Dakota and compares it to the broader United States as of 2019.

Demographic Data for North Dakota
	North Dakota	United States
Population	779,094	331,449,281
Land area (sq mi)	68,993	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White	85.7%	70.4%
Black/African American	3.2%	12.6%
Asian	1.6%	5.6%
Native American	5.2%	0.8%
Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.2%
Other (single race)	1.2%	5.1%
Multiple	3.1%	5.2%
Hispanic/Latino	4%	18.2%
Education
High school graduation rate	93.1%	88.5%
College graduation rate	30.7%	32.9%
Income
Median household income	$65,315	$64,994
Persons below poverty level	10.5%	12.8%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

External links

Footnotes

[1] Sabato's Crystal Ball, "The Attorneys General: A Dozen Races Dot the Competitive Landscape," September 14, 2022

[2] Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' presidential results by congressional district for 2020, 2016, and 2012," accessed September 9, 2022

[1]

[2]

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North Dakota Attorney General election, 2022

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Attorney General of North Dakota

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Attorney General of North Dakota

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Attorney General of North Dakota

Voting information

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Past elections

2018

General election

General election for Attorney General of North Dakota

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Attorney General of North Dakota

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Attorney General of North Dakota

2014

Election analysis

Presidential elections

Cook PVI by congressional district

2020 presidential results by 2022 congressional district lines

2012-2020

Historical voting trends

Statewide elections

U.S. Senate elections

Gubernatorial elections

State partisanship

Congressional delegation

State executive

State legislature

North Dakota State Senate

North Dakota House of Representatives

Trifecta control

Demographics

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

2026 Elections

2025 Elections

Election analysis

Trending

Public Policy

Information for candidates

Get Engaged

Services

Additional analysis

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