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North Dakota House of Representatives District 38

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North Dakota House of Representatives District 38
Incumbents
Assumed office: December 1, 2000
Assumed office: December 1, 2024

North Dakota House of Representatives District 38 is represented by Dan Ruby (R) and Christina Wolff (R).

As of the 2020 Census, North Dakota state representatives represented an average of 8,295 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 7,190 residents.

About the office

Members of the North Dakota House of Representatives serve four-year terms with term limits. Generally, members from even-numbered districts are elected in U.S. presidential election years (2012, 2008, 2004, etc.) and members from odd-numbered districts are elected in general election years offset by two years from U.S. presidential elections (2010, 2006, 2002, etc.). North Dakota legislators assume office December 1st.[1]

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

Article 4, Section 5 of the North Dakota Constitution states:[2]

Each individual elected or appointed to the legislative assembly must be, on the day of the election or appointment, a qualified elector in the district from which the member was selected and must have been a resident of the state for one year immediately prior to that election. An individual may not serve in the legislative assembly unless the individual lives in the district from which selected.[3]


Salaries

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
State legislative salaries, 2024[4]
SalaryPer diem
$592/month$213/day

Term limits

See also: State legislatures with term limits

The North Dakota Legislative Assembly is one of 16 state legislatures with term limits. It has been a term-limited state legislature since North Dakota voters approved Constitutional Measure 1 in 2022, as an initiated constitutional amendment. The first year that the term limits enacted in 2022 will impact the ability of incumbents to run for office is 2030. Under North Dakota's term limits, state representatives can serve no more than two four-year terms.

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

If there is a vacancy in the North Dakota State Legislature, the vacancy is filled by the district committee of the political party that holds the seat. A replacement must be named within 21 days of the vacancy. The appointed person shall serve until the next general election which is scheduled for at least 94 days after the vacancy occurs. Qualified electors in a district where a vacancy exists can also petition for a special election to be called by the governor to fill the remaining term.[5]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: North Dakota Cent. Code §44-02-03.1


District map

Redistricting

See also: Redistricting in North Dakota

Because North Dakota has only one congressional district, congressional redistricting is not necessary. The state legislature draws state legislative district boundaries. State legislative district lines are subject to veto by the governor.[6]

The North Dakota Constitution requires that state legislative districts be "compact and contiguous."[6][7]

2020-2024

See also: Redistricting in North Dakota after the 2020 census

On May 14, 2025, a federal appeals court overturned a lower court ruling that struck down the state's 2021 legislative maps. On January 8, 2024, the U.S. District Court of North Dakota had ordered the state to adopt a remedial legislative map proposed by the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and the Spirit Lake Tribe. In the order, Judge Peter Welte said that the new map "requires changes to only three districts ... and is the least intrusive option that complies with the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution."[8][9]

The U.S. District Court of North Dakota struck down the state's legislative map on November 17, 2023, saying in its ruling in the case Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians v. the Secretary of State of North Dakota, "The Secretary is permanently enjoined from administering, enforcing, preparing for, or in any way permitting the nomination or election of members of the North Dakota Legislative Assembly from districts 9 and 15 and subdistrict 9A and 9B. The Secretary and Legislative Assembly shall have until December 22, 2023, to adopt a plan to remedy the violation of Section 2."[10] North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) signed legislation enacting the state's legislative map on November 11, 2021.

Reactions to 2024 state legislative maps

On January 9, 2024, the Secretary of State’s Office filed an appeal with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals of the U.S. District Court of North Dakota's order in the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians v. the Secretary of State of North Dakota case.[11]

The Secretary of State’s Office also released a statement saying, “Any action taken by the appeals court would not impact the maps used for the 2024 election cycle. ... Secretary of State Michael Howe will be moving forward for the 2024 election with Judge Welte’s court-imposed map.”[11]

Below are the maps in effect before and after the 2020 redistricting cycle. The map on the right was in effect for North Dakota’s 2024 state legislative elections.

North Dakota House of Representatives District 38
before 2020 redistricting cycle

Click a district to compare boundaries.

North Dakota House of Representatives District 38
after 2020 redistricting cycle

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Elections

2024

See also: North Dakota House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for North Dakota House of Representatives District 38 (2 seats)

Incumbent Dan Ruby and Christina Wolff defeated Lisa Hermosillo in the general election for North Dakota House of Representatives District 38 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Dan Ruby
Dan Ruby (R)
 
42.9
 
5,009
Image of Christina Wolff
Christina Wolff (R)
 
42.1
 
4,919
Image of Lisa Hermosillo
Lisa Hermosillo (D) Candidate Connection
 
14.7
 
1,713
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.4
 
43

Total votes: 11,684
Candidate Connection = 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 House of Representatives District 38 (2 seats)

Lisa Hermosillo advanced from the Democratic primary for North Dakota House of Representatives District 38 on June 11, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Lisa Hermosillo
Lisa Hermosillo Candidate Connection
 
98.1
 
253
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.9
 
5

Total votes: 258
Candidate Connection = 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 38 (2 seats)

Incumbent Dan Ruby and Christina Wolff defeated Lisa Olson in the Republican primary for North Dakota House of Representatives District 38 on June 11, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Dan Ruby
Dan Ruby
 
42.8
 
1,404
Image of Christina Wolff
Christina Wolff
 
31.1
 
1,020
Lisa Olson
 
25.8
 
845
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.3
 
10

Total votes: 3,279
Candidate Connection = 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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2020

See also: North Dakota House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for North Dakota House of Representatives District 38 (2 seats)

Incumbent Dan Ruby and incumbent Larry Bellew won election in the general election for North Dakota House of Representatives District 38 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Dan Ruby
Dan Ruby (R)
 
50.6
 
5,411
Image of Larry Bellew
Larry Bellew (R)
 
47.7
 
5,097
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.7
 
177

Total votes: 10,685
Candidate Connection = 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 38 (2 seats)

Incumbent Dan Ruby and incumbent Larry Bellew advanced from the Republican primary for North Dakota House of Representatives District 38 on June 9, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Dan Ruby
Dan Ruby
 
50.5
 
2,190
Image of Larry Bellew
Larry Bellew
 
49.1
 
2,129
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.5
 
20

Total votes: 4,339
Candidate Connection = 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

See also: North Dakota House of Representatives elections, 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.

Incumbent Larry Bellew and incumbent Dan Ruby defeated Richard Rintoul and Susan Rintoul in the North Dakota House of Representatives District 38 general election.[12][13]

North Dakota House of Representatives, District 38 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Larry Bellew Incumbent 36.91% 4,292
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Dan Ruby Incumbent 40.99% 4,767
     Democratic Richard Rintoul 9.83% 1,143
     Democratic Susan Rintoul 12.27% 1,427
Total Votes 11,629
Source: North Dakota Secretary of State


Richard Rintoul and Susan Rintoul were unopposed in the North Dakota House of Representatives District 38 Democratic primary.[14][15]

North Dakota House of Representatives, District 38 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Richard Rintoul
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Susan Rintoul


Incumbent Larry Bellew and incumbent Dan Ruby were unopposed in the North Dakota House of Representatives District 38 Republican primary.[14][15]

North Dakota House of Representatives, District 38 Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Larry Bellew Incumbent
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Dan Ruby Incumbent

2012

See also: North Dakota House of Representatives elections, 2012

Elections for the office of North Dakota House of Representatives consisted of a primary election on June 12, 2012, and a general election on November 6, 2012. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was April 13, 2012. Incumbents Dan Ruby (R) and Larry Bellew (R) defeated Robert E. Kibler (D) and Mike Rose (D) in the general election. All candidates were unopposed in the June 12 primary elections.[16][17]

North Dakota House of Representatives, District 38 General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngDan Ruby Incumbent 35.3% 3,947
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngLarry Bellew Incumbent 32.3% 3,613
     Democratic Mike Rose 18% 2,009
     Democratic Robert E. Kibler 14.4% 1,605
Total Votes 11,174

Campaign contributions

From 2000 to 2024, candidates for North Dakota House of Representatives District 38 raised a total of $140,472. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $5,403 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money

Campaign contributions, North Dakota House of Representatives District 38
Year Amount Candidates Average
2024 $42,423 4 $10,606
2020 $16,574 2 $8,287
2016 $24,450 4 $6,113
2012 $18,575 4 $4,644
2008 $23,826 4 $5,957
2004 $10,724 4 $2,681
2000 $3,900 4 $975
Total $140,472 26 $5,403


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. North Dakota Constitution, "Article IV, Section 7," accessed February 12, 2021
  2. North Dakota Legislative Branch, "North Dakota Constitution, Article IV," accessed May 23, 2025
  3. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  4. National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
  5. North Dakota Legislative Branch, "North Dakota Century Code §44-02-03.1," accessed February 6, 2023
  6. 6.0 6.1 All About Redistricting, 'North Dakota," accessed April 22, 2015
  7. North Dakota Constitution, "Article IV, Section 2," accessed April 22, 2015
  8. United States District Court for the District of North Dakota, "Case No. 3:22-cv-22 Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, et al., vs. Michael Howe," accessed January 8, 2024
  9. Twitter, "RedistrictNet," January 10, 2024
  10. U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota, "Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians vs. Michael Howe, in his Official Capacity as Secretary of State of North Dakota," November 17, 2022
  11. 11.0 11.1 Bismarck Tribune, "North Dakota to follow judge’s redistricting order for 2024 election, despite appeal," January 10, 2024
  12. North Dakota Secretary of State, "2016 General Election Contest/Candidate List," accessed August 21, 2016
  13. North Dakota Secretary of State, "Official Results General Election - November 8, 2016," accessed November 28, 2016
  14. 14.0 14.1 North Dakota Secretary of State, "2016 Primary Election Contest/Candidate List," accessed April 13, 2016
  15. 15.0 15.1 North Dakota Secretary of State, "Official Results Primary Election - June 14, 2016," accessed August 2, 2016
  16. Ohio Secretary of State, "2012 Primary results," accessed December 5, 2013
  17. Ohio Secretary of State, "2012 General election results," accessed December 5, 2013


Leadership
Speaker of the House:Robin Weisz
Majority Leader:Mike Lefor
Minority Leader:Zac Ista
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4A
District 4B
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
Mike Berg (R)
District 9
District 10
District 11
Liz Conmy (D)
District 12
District 13
Jim Jonas (R)
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
Nico Rios (R)
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
Dan Ruby (R)
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
Zac Ista (D)
District 44
District 45
District 46
District 47
Republican Party (81)
Democratic Party (11)