Robert Tolar

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Robert Tolar

Independent

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Robert Tolar (independent) ran for election to the North Dakota State Senate to represent District 6. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Elections

2024

See also: North Dakota State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for North Dakota State Senate District 6

Paul Thomas defeated Robert Tolar in the general election for North Dakota State Senate District 6 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Paul Thomas (R)	82.1	7,331
		Robert Tolar (Independent)	17.2	1,533
		Other/Write-in votes	0.7	65

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,929
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for North Dakota State Senate District 6

Paul Thomas defeated Zach Lessig in the Republican primary for North Dakota State Senate District 6 on June 11, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Paul Thomas	63.9	2,401
	Submit photo	Zach Lessig	35.8	1,345
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	9

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,755
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Tolar in this election.

2022

See also: North Dakota State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for North Dakota State Senate District 6

Incumbent Shawn Vedaa defeated Robert Tolar in the general election for North Dakota State Senate District 6 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Shawn Vedaa (R)	79.3	5,677
		Robert Tolar (Independent)	20.5	1,468
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	13

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,158
= 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 North Dakota State Senate District 6

Incumbent Shawn Vedaa advanced from the Republican primary for North Dakota State Senate District 6 on June 14, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Shawn Vedaa	99.5	3,386
		Other/Write-in votes	0.5	17

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,403
= 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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Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Robert Tolar did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Robert Tolar completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Tolar's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a small business owner residing in Bottineau, ND. I've never run for public office before but I'm running now because I'm tired of the divisive rhetoric and extremism fostered by the two-party system. I know that, as a nation and as North Dakotans, we are more united than divided. Through my door knocking campaign, I've proven that the key to finding common ground is simply talking to each other openly with mutual respect and without judgement. I believe your legislators should always represent your views and values, not their personal or partisan agenda. I am committed to monthly, in-person town hall meetings throughout District 6.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Country and Constitution over Partisan Politics
• Voter-Centric Representation
• Communication with Community

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Transparency in public policy is what I'm most passionate about. From the rural perspective it feels like state legislators operate under the assumption that we are all stupid. As an elected representative I would make sure that my district was kept aware of the actual content and ramifications of legislation proposed by partisan interests. We now live an age of sound bites and sensationalism. Combined with political tribalism, the result is a steady stream of new laws inspired by cable news and culture wars. Somewhere along the road we've lost touch with the basic tenet that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

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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.

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Robert Tolar campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024	North Dakota State Senate District 6	Lost general	$1,030	$0
2022	North Dakota State Senate District 6	Lost general	$3,820	$0
Grand total			$4,851	$0
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Election Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

See also

2024 Elections

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External links

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Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the North Dakota State Senate

Leadership

Majority Leader:David Hogue

Minority Leader:Kathy Hogan

Senators

District 1

Brad Bekkedahl (R)

District 2

Mark Enget (R)

District 3

Bob Paulson (R)

District 4

Chuck Walen (R)

District 5

Randy Burckhard (R)

District 6

Paul Thomas (R)

District 7

Michelle Axtman (R)

District 8

Jeffery Magrum (R)

District 9

Richard Marcellais (D)

District 10

Ryan Braunberger (D)

District 11

Tim Mathern (D)

District 12

Cole Conley (R)

District 13

Judy Lee (R)

District 14

Jerry Klein (R)

District 15

Kent Weston (R)

District 16

David Clemens (R)

District 17

Jonathan Sickler (R)

District 18

Scott Meyer (R)

District 19

Janne Myrdal (R)

District 20

Randy Lemm (R)

District 21

Kathy Hogan (D)

District 22

Mark Weber (R)

District 23

Todd Beard (R)

District 24

Mike Wobbema (R)

District 25

Larry Luick (R)

District 26

Dale Patten (R)

District 27

Kristin Roers (R)

District 28

Robert Erbele (R)

District 29

Terry Wanzek (R)

District 30

Diane Larson (R)

District 31

Donald Schaible (R)

District 32

Dick Dever (R)

District 33

Keith Boehm (R)

District 34

Justin Gerhardt (R)

District 35

Sean Cleary (R)

District 36

Desiree Van Oosting (R)

District 37

Dean Rummel (R)

District 38

David Hogue (R)

District 39

Greg Kessel (R)

District 40

Jose Castaneda (R)

District 41

Kyle Davison (R)

District 42

Claire Cory (R)

District 43

Jeff Barta (R)

District 44

Joshua Boschee (D)

District 45

Ronald Sorvaag (R)

District 46

Michelle Powers (R)

District 47

Mike Dwyer (R)

Republican Party (42)

Democratic Party (5)