Ryan Taylor (North Dakota)
Ryan Taylor was a Democratic candidate for North Dakota Commissioner of Agriculture in the 2014 elections.[1] Ryan Taylor (North Dakota) lost the general election on November 4, 2014.
Taylor is a former Democratic member of the North Dakota State Senate, representing District 7 from 2002 to 2012. He served as Minority Leader. He ran for Governor of North Dakota in the 2012 elections.
Taylor is a Rancher/Columnist/Territory Manager for Fort Dodge Animal Health.
Taylor earned his B.S. in Agricultural Economics/Mass Communications from North Dakota State University.
Committee assignments
Taylor serves as Minority Leader in the 2011-2012 session. He is not listed on any committees.
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Taylor served on these committees:
Elections
2014
Taylor ran for election to the office of North Dakota Commissioner of Agriculture. Taylor won the Democratic nomination in the unopposed primary on June 10. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.
Results
General election
| North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Doug Goehring Incumbent |
57% | 139,597 | |
| Democratic | Ryan Taylor | 42.9% | 105,094 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.2% | 377 | |
| Total Votes | 245,068 | |||
| Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State | ||||
Race background
The North Dakota Commissioner of Agriculture also serves as a member on the state's three-member Industrial Commission. This commission, among many duties, regulates North Dakota's oil and gas industry.[2] The race for agriculture commissioner featured candidate disagreements over how to deal with the rush to extract oil and gas from the Bakken shale.
The incumbent, Republican Doug Goehring, expressed support for an accelerated rate of oil extraction, opposing legislation that might slow down the growth of drilling.[3] In a speech at the state Republican convention, he said that "the ties between agriculture and energy have never been more important that they are today." The North Dakota Farm Bureau endorsed his primary challenger, Judy Estenson.[4] Estenson lost the state GOP endorsement and dropped out of the race.[4][5]
The Democratic challenger, Ryan Taylor, expressed concern about the consequences of the oil rush. He said, "You can’t unleash all that oil and then wonder why the train tracks are full of oil tankers and you can’t get grain on from the elevators in North Dakota and get that product to market."[6] Taylor argued for greater weight on agricultural considerations.[6]
Campaign finance
Campaign finance disclosures filed by early October showed Goehring with $339,000 in contributions. Taylor raised $285,000 during the same time period.[7]
Issues background: Fracking
- See also: Fracking in North Dakota
Since oil was first discovered in 1951 in North Dakota, over 13,000 wells have been drilled. The graph to the right shows how oil production in the state increased from 45.14 million barrels in 2007 to 313.8 million barrels in 2013. A study commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute estimated that in 2011, 12 percent of state employment and 13.1 percent of labor income were connected to the oil and gas industry.
The industry's rapid growth has attracted workers from outside the state, leading to increased demand for housing and public services such as police and fire departments. At the same time, environmental groups and local stakeholders expressed concern about the potential ecological effects of the boom. While hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has been used in the United States for decades, some experts have questioned whether regulatory agencies have sufficient resources to consistently enforce environmental protections.[8][9][10][11]
2012
Taylor was the Democratic nominee for governor in 2012. His running mate was Ellen Chaffee. In the general election in November, they faced Republican incumbents Jack Dalrymple & Drew Wrigley and two pairs of independent nominees, Roland Riemers & Anthony Johns and Paul Sorum & Michael Coachman.[12][13] They were defeated by incumbents Dalrymple and Wrigley.[13]
| Governor/Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Jack Dalrymple & Drew Wrigley Incumbent |
63.1% | 200,525 | |
| Democratic | Ryan Taylor & Ellen Chaffee | 34.3% | 109,048 | |
| independent | Paul Sorum & Michael Coachman | 1.7% | 5,356 | |
| independent | Roland Riemers & Anthony Johns | 0.8% | 2,618 | |
| Total Votes | 317,547 | |||
| Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State | ||||
2010
Taylor won re-election to the North Dakota State Senate District 7, defeating Craig Wollenburg (R).[14][15]
Taylor was unopposed in the primary election on June 8, 2010.[16]
| North Dakota Senate General Election, District 7 (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Ryan Taylor (D)
|
3,376 | 60.39% | ||
| Craig Wollenburg (R) | 2,210 | 39.53% | ||
2006
On November 7, 2006, Taylor was re-elected to the 7th District Seat in the North Dakota State Senate, besting Dick Anderson (R).[17] Taylor raised $4,325 for his campaign, while Anderson raised $3,350.[18]
| North Dakota Senate, District 7 (2008) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Ryan Taylor (D)
|
3,715 | |||
| Dick Anderson (R) | 1,947 | |||
Campaign finance summary
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.
Scorecards
NDPC: North Dakota Legislative Review
The North Dakota Policy Council, a North Dakota-based nonprofit research organization which describes itself as "liberty-based", published the North Dakota Legislative Review, a comprehensive report on how state legislators voted during the 2011 legislative session. The scorecard seeks to show how North Dakota legislators voted on the principles the Council seeks to promote. The Council recorded and scored votes on both spending bills and policy bills, and awarded points accordingly. Policy issues voted upon included income tax cuts, pension reform, and government transparency. On spending legislation, the Council accorded a percentage score based on how much spending the legislator voted against. On policy legislation, scores range from the highest score (100%) to the lowest (0%). A higher score indicates that the legislator voted more in favor of the values supported by the Council.[19] Taylor received a score of 33.33% on policy legislation and voted against 1.84% of state spending. On policy, Taylor was ranked 42nd and on spending was ranked 43rd, out of 46 Senate members evaluated for the study.[20]
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Taylor and his wife Nikki have one child.
External links
- Taylor's official campaign website
- Biography from the North Dakota State Senate website
- Legislative profile Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign Contributions: 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002
Footnotes
- ↑ Farm and Ranch Guide, "Ryan Taylor outlines ag priorities," March 17, 2014
- ↑ North Dakota Industrial Commission, "About," April 10, 2014
- ↑ Ag Week, "ND ‘extraordinary places’ policy approved, but comment process will apply only to public land," April 10, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Bismarck Tribune, "N.D. GOP endorses incumbent for ag post," April 10, 2014 (dead link)
- ↑ Watchdog.org, "Future of ND oil boom could hinge on ag commission race," April 10, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Taylor for North Dakota, "Jamestown Sun: Taylor calls for balance with oil in bid," April 10, 2014
- ↑ NewsOK, "ND agriculture commissioner contest more about oil," October 12, 2014
- ↑ North Dakota Energy Forum, "North Dakota Oil and Gas History," accessed July 25, 2014
- ↑ North Dakota Oil and Gas Division, "North Dakota Annual Oil Production," accessed October 15, 2014
- ↑ PricewaterhouseCooper LLP, "Economic Impacts of the Oil and Natural Gas Industry on the US Economy 2011," July 2013
- ↑ Stanford Law School Student Journals, "Local Government Fracking Regulations: A Colorado Case Study," January 2014
- ↑ North Dakota Secretary of State, "Unofficial results, primary election," accessed June 12, 2012
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Bismark Tribune, "General Election Results," accessed November 6, 2012
- ↑ North Dakota Secretary of State, "2010 General Election Results," accessed May 29, 2015
- ↑ North Dakota candidate list
- ↑ 2010 North Dakota Primary Election Results
- ↑ North Dakota Secretary of State, "2006 General election results," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, "North Dakota Senate spending, 2006," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ North Dakota Policy Council, "The North Dakota Legislative Review - 2011," accessed January 20, 2014
- ↑ North Dakota Policy Council, "2011 North Dakota Legislative Review Rankings," accessed January 26, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by ' |
North Dakota State Senate District 7 2002–2012 |
Succeeded by Nicole Poolman (R) |
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State of North Dakota Bismarck (capital) |
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