North Dakota Public Service Commission election, 2016

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North Dakota Public Service Commission Election

Primary Date: June 14, 2016

General Election Date: November 8, 2016

November Election Winner: Julie Fedorchak (R)

Incumbent Prior to Election: Julie Fedorchak (R)

State Executive Elections Top Ballot Governor and Lt. Governor • Treasurer Down Ballot Auditor • Insurance Commissioner Public Service Commission Superintendent of Schools

Key election dates

Filing deadline (major parties): April 11, 2016

Party conventions: March 31-April 2, 2016 April 1-3, 2016

Primary date: June 14, 2016

Filing deadline (independents): September 6, 2016

Filing deadline (write-ins): October 18, 2016

General election date: November 8, 2016

Recount request deadline: TBD

Inauguration: December 15, 2016

North Dakota held an election for one seat on the Public Service Commission on November 8, 2016, with a primary on June 14. Incumbent Julie Fedorchak (R) won election to a full term.

HIGHLIGHTS

Incumbent Julie Fedorchak (R) was appointed to fill a vacancy left by former Commissioner Kevin Cramer, who resigned after being elected to the U.S. House.

Fedorchak sought election to a full term and was unopposed in the Republican primary; one Democrat and one Libertarian will challenge her in November.

All five seats on the commission are held by Republicans. With only one seat up for election, Republicans were guaranteed maintain a majority on the commission regardless of the outcome of the November election.

Fedorchak won the general election on November 8, 2016.

Overview

The North Dakota Public Service Commission regulates electric and gas utilities, telecommunication companies and railroads, and is responsible for siting energy plant and transmission facilities. One seat, held by a Republican, was up for election. Going into the 2016 elections, Republicans had unified control of the commission. Because only one seat was up for election, Republicans were guaranteed to retain a majority of the seats on the commission. However, it was possible for Democrats to weaken Republican control of the commission.

Incumbent Julie Fedorchak sought election to a full term in 2016. She competed in the November 8 general election with Democrat Marlo Hunte-Beaubrun and Libertarian Tom Skadeland. Fedorchak won the general election on November 8, 2016.

Candidates

Marlo Hunte-Beaubrun (D/Democratic-Nonpartisan League)
Director, entrepreneurship center, Neuta Hidatsa Sahnish College

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Julie Fedorchak (R)
Incumbent public service commissioner since 2013

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Tom Skadeland (Lib.)
Electrician, substitute teacher

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Results

General election

Incumbent Julie Fedorchak defeated Marlo Hunte-Beaubrun and Tom Skadeland in the North Dakota public service commission election.

North Dakota Public Service Commission, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Julie Fedorchak Incumbent	68.76%	218,961
	Democratic/Democrat-Nonpartisan League	Marlo Hunte-Beaubrun	22.62%	72,028
	Libertarian	Tom Skadeland	8.45%	26,913
		Write-in votes	0.18%	563
Total Votes				318,465
Source: North Dakota Secretary of State

Primary elections

Marlo Hunte-Beaubrun ran unopposed in the Democratic primary for public service commissioner.

Democratic primary for public service commissioner, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Marlo Hunte-Beaubrun  (unopposed)	99.76%	16,425
Write-in votes	0.24%	40
Total Votes (432 of 432 precincts reporting)		16,465
Source: North Dakota Secretary of State

Incumbent Julie Fedorchak ran unopposed in the Republican primary for public service commissioner.

Republican primary for public service commissioner, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Julie Fedorchak Incumbent (unopposed)	99.70%	92,931
Write-in votes	0.3%	281
Total Votes (432 of 432 precincts reporting)		93,212
Source: North Dakota Secretary of State

Tom Skadeland ran unopposed in the Libertarian primary for public service commissioner.

Libertarian primary for public service commissioner, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Tom Skadeland  (unopposed)	99.62%	1,051
Write-in votes	0.38%	4
Total Votes (432 of 432 precincts reporting)		1,055
Source: North Dakota Secretary of State

Context of the 2016 election

Primary elections

A primary election is an election in which voters select the candidate they believe should represent a political party in a general election. Primaries usually take place several months before a general election. North Dakota utilizes an open primary system, in which voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary. In North Dakota, major party candidates are usually nominated or endorsed by the party at the state conventions, which take place prior to the primary elections. Often, candidates who do not receive the endorsements do not file to run in the primary, however that is not mandatory and major party candidates can and do run in the primary regardless of receiving the official party nod.

Primary contests for nonpartisan elections take the form of a top-two primary, with the top-two vote getters advancing to the general election.

North Dakota's primary elections took place on June 14, 2016.

Incumbent Julie Fedorchak (R)

Fedorchak was appointed to the commission by Governor Jack Dalrymple (R) in 2013 to serve out the remainder a term ending in 2016. Fedorchak replaced outgoing Commissioner Kevin Cramer (R), who was elected to the U.S. House in 2012 and left the commission to assume the seat. Prior to her appointment, Fedorchak served as North Dakota state director for U.S. Senator John Hoeven (R).

Party control in North Dakota

North Dakota has been under Republican trifecta control since 1995, and Republicans have seen comfortable margins of victory in recent statewide elections. The 2012 Republican Dalrymple/Wrigley ticket for governor won by a nearly 30-point margin. In 2014, Attorney General Stenehjem won a fifth term in office with over 74 percent of the vote.

However, recent elections have also shown that popular Democrats can and do win statewide elections in North Dakota. Most recently, Heidi Heitkamp (D) narrowly defeated her Republican opponent in the United States Senate race in 2012, even as Mitt Romney carried the state by a nearly 20-point margin and Dalrymple was elected governor by an even larger margin. Before Heitkamp, North Dakotans were represented in the United States Senate by Democrat Kent Conrad, who won election five times. During his 1992 re-election bid, he defeated Jack Dalrymple by a 30-point margin.

All three seats on the commission are held by Republicans. Since only one seat was up for election, Republicans were guaranted to retain majority control fo the commission after the November election.

Campaigns

Campaign media

Note: If a candidate is not listed below, Ballotpedia staff were unable to locate any campaign media for that candidate. Do you know of any? Tell us!

Democrats

Marlo Hunte-Beaubrun (D)

Republicans

Julie Fedorchak (R)

Third-party candidates

Tom Skadeland (Lib.)

About the office

The North Dakota Public Service Commission is a three-person state executive board in the North Dakota state government. The commission is responsible for regulating public utilities. The board is granted jurisdiction over railroads, telecommunications companies, pipelines, electric, and heating companies; grain elevators and warehouses; weights and measures; public auctioneers and auction clerks; the siting of energy plants and transmission facilities; reclamation of mined lands; and all other public utilities working within the state. The specific duties of the commissioners are outlined in Chapter 49-01 of the North Dakota Century Code:

The commission does NOT have jurisdiction over:

• rural electric cooperatives
• most small telephone companies
• cable television

Incumbents

At the time of the election, the commissioners were chair Julie Fedorchak, Randy Christmann, and Brian Kalk.

Qualifications

Article V, Section 4 of the North Dakota Constitution establishes the qualifications to hold the office of public service commissioner:

To be eligible to hold an elective office established by this article, a person must be a qualified elector of this state, must be at least twenty-five years of age on the day of the election, and must have been a resident of this state for the five years preceding election to office. To be eligible to hold the office of governor or lieutenant governor, a person must be at least thirty years old on the day of the election. The attorney general must be licensed to practice law in this state.

• qualified North Dakota voter
• at least 25 years old
• a resident of North Dakota for at least the five preceding years

Authority

The state Constitution establishes the three person public service commission in Article V, Section 2:

The qualified electors of the state at the times and places of choosing members of the legislative assembly shall choose a governor, lieutenant governor, agriculture commissioner, attorney general, auditor, insurance commissioner, three public service commissioners, secretary of state, superintendent of public instruction, tax commissioner, and treasurer. ...

Past elections

The commissioners are elected on a statewide basis to staggered six-year terms.

2014

See also: North Dakota down ballot state executive elections, 2014

Republican incumbent Brian Kalk won re-election on November 4, 2014.

North Dakota Public Service Commissioner, General election, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Brian Kalk Incumbent	64.8%	154,409
	Democratic	Todd Reisenauer	35.1%	83,557
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.2%	370
Total Votes				238,336
Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State

2014 special election

See also: North Dakota down ballot state executive elections, 2014

Republican incumbent Julie Fedorchak won the special election on November 4, 2014.

North Dakota Public Service Commissioner, Special election, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Julie Fedorchak Incumbent	66%	156,596
	Democratic	Tyler Axness	33.8%	80,319
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.2%	401
Total Votes				237,316
Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State

2012

See also: North Dakota down ballot state executive elections, 2012

Incumbent Tony Clark (R) did not seek re-election in 2012. Randy Christmann (R) defeated Brad Crabtree (D) and Joshua Voytek (L) in the November 6, 2012 general election.

North Dakota Public Service Commission General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Randy Christmann	54.6%	164,591
	Democratic	Brad Crabtree	41.1%	123,978
	Libertarian	Joshua Voytek	4.3%	13,098
Total Votes				301,667
Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State

2010

On November 2, 2010, Kevin Cramer won election to the office of North Dakota Public Service Commission. He defeated Brad Crabtree (D) and Joshua Voytek (L) in the general election.

North Dakota Public Service Commission, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Kevin Cramer Incumbent	61.5%	142,644
	Democratic	Brad Crabtree	34.9%	81,011
	Libertarian	Joshua Voytek	3.6%	8,315
	Write-In	Various	0.1%	144
Total Votes				232,114
Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State.

2008

On November 4, 2008, Brian Kalk won election to the office of North Dakota Public Service Commission. He defeated Cheryl Bergian in the general election.

North Dakota Public Service Commission, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Brian Kalk	53.2%	156,221
	Democratic	Cheryl Bergian	46.8%	137,682
Total Votes				293,903
Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State.

2006

On November 7, 2006, Tony Clark won re-election to the office of North Dakota Public Service Commission. He defeated Cheryl Bergian (D-NPL) in the general election.

North Dakota Public Service Commission, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Tony Clark Incumbent	52.3%	110,002
	Democratic	Cheryl Bergian	47.7%	100,233
Total Votes				210,235
Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State.

2004

On November 2, 2004, Kevin Cramer won re-election to the office of North Dakota Public Service Commission. He defeated Ron Gumeringer (D-NPL) in the general election.

North Dakota Public Service Commission, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Kevin Cramer Incumbent	65.5%	191,825
	Democratic	Ron Gumeringer	34.5%	101,081
Total Votes				292,906
Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State.

2002

On November 5, 2002, Susan Wefald won re-election to the office of North Dakota Public Service Commission. She defeated Bob Stefonowicz (D-NPL) in the general election.

North Dakota Public Service Commission, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Susan Wefald Incumbent	63.7%	143,234
	Democratic	Bob Stefonowicz	36.3%	81,583
Total Votes				224,817
Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State.

2000

On November 7, 2000, Tony Clark won election to the office of North Dakota Public Service Commission. He defeated Vern Thompson (D-NPL) in the general election.

North Dakota Public Service Commission, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Tony Clark	50.2%	134,915
	Democratic	Vern Thompson	49.8%	133,856
Total Votes				268,771
Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms North Dakota Public Service Commissioner election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

North Dakota Public Service Commission election, 2016 - Google News

State profile

Demographic data for North Dakota
	North Dakota	U.S.
Total population:	756,835	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	69,001	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	88.7%	73.6%
Black/African American:	1.6%	12.6%
Asian:	1.2%	5.1%
Native American:	5.3%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.2%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	2.9%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	91.7%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	27.7%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$57,181	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	12.2%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in North Dakota. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in North Dakota

North Dakota voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, four are located in North Dakota, accounting for 1.94 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. North Dakota had three Retained Pivot Counties, 1.66 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.

More North Dakota coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in North Dakota
• United States congressional delegations from North Dakota
• Public policy in North Dakota
• Endorsers in North Dakota
• North Dakota fact checks
• More...

See also

North Dakota government:

• North Dakota state executive offices
• North Dakota State Legislature
• North Dakota courts

Previous elections:

• State executive official elections, 2015
• State executive official elections, 2014

Ballotpedia exclusives:

• State executives compensation
• State of the state addresses
• Who runs the states?

External links

Suggest a link

• North Dakota Public Service Commission

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