North Dakota Secretary of State election, 2010
The North Dakota Secretary of State election of 2010 was held on November 2, 2010. Republican incumbent Al Jaeger won 62.44% of the vote, defeating his challenger, Democrat Corey Mock. Neither candidate was opposed in the June 8 primary election.
Previous election
Incumbent Jaeger first won election as the state's secretary of state in 1992. During the last election cycle, he ran unopposed in the Republican primary race. In the general election contest, Jaeger faced Democratic challenger Kristin Hedger, winning by 115,341 (53.9%) votes to 98,583 (48.1%) votes.[1]
General election
Results
On November 2, 2010, Alvin Jaeger won re-election to the office of North Dakota Secretary of State. He defeated Corey Mock (D) in the general election.
| North Dakota Secretary of State, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Alvin Jaeger Incumbent |
62.4% | 145,882 | |
| Democratic | Corey Mock | 37.5% | 87,519 | |
| Write-In | Various | 0.1% | 222 | |
| Total Votes | 233,623 | |||
| Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State. | ||||
Endorsements
- Grand Forks Herald, local newspaper[2]
- Bismarck Tribune, local newspaper[3][4]
- Communications Workers of America (CWA)[5]
- North Dakota AFL-CIO[6]
Finances
According to Follow the Money, the breakdown of campaign finances for each of the candidates is as follows:
| North Dakota Secretary of State Campaign Finance | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Total Contributions | |||||||||||||
| Corey Mock[7] | $135,161 | |||||||||||||
| Al Jaegar[8] | $84,235 | |||||||||||||
Noteworthy events
Candidate left off public service commission ballot
Joshua Voytek, a Libertarian candidate for the North Dakota Public Service Commission, was left off the state's June 8th primary ballot as a result of misplaced paperwork. According to Secretary of State Jaeger, even though Voytek mailed the required forms, including a candidate affidavit and statement of his financial interests, in early April, he was not listed as an official candidate because "the documents were mistakenly attached to other business registration paperwork in his office when the mail received April 8 was opened."[9] Jaeger decided to place the third-party individual on the general election ballot, despite not receiving at least 300 votes to be eligible to run in the fall as required by state law - a move that drew criticism, especially from Mock. Some conservative commentators in the state said that "Jaeger may have overstepped his bounds."[10]
Even though Jaeger said that he discussed the matter with the State Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem prior to reaching his decision, Stenehjem denied a request made by Democratic State Senator John Warner for a formal legal opinion on the issue.[11]
State Libertarian lawsuit
The Institute for Free Speech, a Washington D.C.-based advocacy group, sued Secretary of State Al Jaeger on behalf of the Chairman of the North Dakota Libertarian Party and two candidates for the state legislature on the 2010 primary ballot that did not get enough votes to qualify for the general election. Oliver Hall, the attorney representing the Libertarians, said that the state's requirement to get a minimum amount of votes in the primary along with 7,000 signatures for ballot access was unconstitutional. Hall said the law restricted free speech and due process rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.[12]
Jaeger told the Bismarck Tribune that it was not his responsibility to determine which election laws were constitutional. The state's top election officer said: "we follow the law, and if they disagree with the law, they have the right to pursue satisfaction for whatever they feel is a problem."[12] North Dakota is the only state in the nation to have this type of a requirement for third party candidates to get on the ballot. Minnesota had a similar law until their Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional.[12] According to Ballot Access News, no third party candidate for the legislature has qualified for the general election since 1976.[12]
June 8, 2010 primaries
Democratic primary
Candidates
- State Representative Corey Mock[13]
Electoral results
- Corey Mock ran unopposed in this contest
Republican primary
Candidates
Electoral results
- Al Jaeger ran unopposed in this contest
External links
General Election candidates
- Al Jaeger for North Dakota Secretary of State Campaign website
- Corey Mock for North Dakota Secretary of State Campaign website
Footnotes
- ↑ North Dakota Secretary of State - 2006 General Election Results
- ↑ Grand Forks Herald, "OUR OPINION: Al Jaeger for secretary of state" 24 Oct. 2010 (dead link)
- ↑ The Bismarck Tribune, "Change needed in secretary of state's office" 14 Oct. 2010
- ↑ Say Anything Blog, "Bismarck Tribune Endorses Mock, Cites Jaeger’s “Lack Of Attention To Details And Focus”" 14 Oct. 2010
- ↑ Communication Workers of America - Endorsements
- ↑ AFL-CIO - 2010 Endorsements
- ↑ [1] Follow the Money.org, "Corey Mock candidate summary," May 20, 2011]
- ↑ [2] Follow the Money.org, "Al Jaegar candidate summary," May 16, 2011]
- ↑ The Bismarck Tribune, "Libertarian PSC candidate left off the ballot" 17 June, 2010
- ↑ Say Anything Blog, "Corey Mock Has A Point About The Libertarian Candidate Ballot Mix Up" 24 June, 2010
- ↑ Say Anything Blog, "Why Won’t Wayne Stenehjem Issue An Opinion About Libertarian Candidate Ballot Issue?" 25 June, 2010
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 The Bismarck Tribune, "Libertarians sue over election laws" 19 July, 2010
- ↑ J5MC "Rep. Corey Mock running for Secretary of State" 23 Feb. 2010
- ↑ Grand Forks Herald, "ND GOP CONVENTION: Jaeger will be secretary of state candidate" 21 March, 2010
