Everything you need to know about ranked-choice voting in one spot. Click to learn more!

North Dakota State Senate District 36

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search

North Dakota State Senate District 36
Incumbent
Assumed office: December 1, 2024

North Dakota State Senate District 36 is represented by Desiree Van Oosting (R).

As of the 2020 Census, North Dakota state senators represented an average of 16,589 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 14,381 residents.

About the office

Members of the North Dakota State Senate serve four-year terms with term limits. Approximately half of the members are elected to four-year terms every two years. 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 on 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 senators 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 State Senate District 36
before 2020 redistricting cycle

Click a district to compare boundaries.

North Dakota State Senate District 36
after 2020 redistricting cycle

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Elections

2024

See also: North Dakota State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for North Dakota State Senate District 36

Desiree Van Oosting won election in the general election for North Dakota State Senate District 36 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Desiree Van Oosting
Desiree Van Oosting (R)
 
99.1
 
6,314
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.9
 
56

Total votes: 6,370
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 State Senate District 36

Desiree Van Oosting advanced from the Republican primary for North Dakota State Senate District 36 on June 11, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Desiree Van Oosting
Desiree Van Oosting
 
99.1
 
1,673
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.9
 
16

Total votes: 1,689
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.

2022

See also: North Dakota State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for North Dakota State Senate District 36

Incumbent Jay Elkin won election in the general election for North Dakota State Senate District 36 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Jay Elkin (R)
 
98.6
 
3,913
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.4
 
55

Total votes: 3,968
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 State Senate District 36

Incumbent Jay Elkin advanced from the Republican primary for North Dakota State Senate District 36 on June 14, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Jay Elkin
 
98.8
 
1,101
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.2
 
13

Total votes: 1,114
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.

2020

See also: North Dakota State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for North Dakota State Senate District 36

Incumbent Jay Elkin won election in the general election for North Dakota State Senate District 36 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Jay Elkin (R)
 
97.4
 
7,964
 Other/Write-in votes
 
2.6
 
214

Total votes: 8,178
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 State Senate District 36

Incumbent Jay Elkin defeated Steven Hanel in the Republican primary for North Dakota State Senate District 36 on June 9, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Jay Elkin
 
73.5
 
2,482
Steven Hanel
 
26.3
 
889
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
4

Total votes: 3,375
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 State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the North Dakota State Senate 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 Kelly Armstrong ran unopposed in the North Dakota State Senate District 36 general election.[12][13]

North Dakota State Senate, District 36 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Kelly Armstrong Incumbent (unopposed) 100.00% 7,020
Total Votes 7,020
Source: North Dakota Secretary of State


John D.W. Fielding ran unopposed in the North Dakota State Senate District 36 Democratic primary.[14][15]

North Dakota State Senate, District 36 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png John D.W. Fielding  (unopposed)


Incumbent Kelly Armstrong ran unopposed in the North Dakota State Senate District 36 Republican primary.[14][15]

North Dakota State Senate, District 36 Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Kelly Armstrong Incumbent (unopposed)

2012

See also: North Dakota State Senate elections, 2012

Elections for the office of North Dakota State Senate 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. Kelly Armstrong (R) defeated Rich Brauhn (D) in the general election. Both candidates were unopposed in the June 12 primary elections.[16][17]

North Dakota State Senate, District 36, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngKelly Armstrong 74.5% 5,234
     Democratic Rich Brauhn 25.3% 1,778
     Other Write-in 0.1% 10
Total Votes 7,022

Campaign contributions

From 2000 to 2024, candidates for North Dakota State Senate District 36 raised a total of $93,819. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $7,217 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money

Campaign contributions, North Dakota State Senate District 36
Year Amount Candidates Average
2024 $3,298 1 $3,298
2022 $6,085 1 $6,085
2020 $21,200 2 $10,600
2016 $14,926 1 $14,926
2012 $22,725 2 $11,363
2008 $18,451 2 $9,226
2004 $5,609 2 $2,805
2000 $1,525 2 $763
Total $93,819 13 $7,217


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


Current members of the North Dakota State Senate
Leadership
Majority Leader:David Hogue
Minority Leader:Kathy Hogan
Senators
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
Judy Lee (R)
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
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
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
District 45
District 46
District 47
Republican Party (42)
Democratic Party (5)