Democratic state senator files paperwork for North Dakota gubernatorial bid

BISMARCK, N.D. — A Democratic state senator in North Dakota is running for governor, which is a long shot in the Republican-controlled state.

State Sen. Merrill Piepkorn of Fargo will not confirm he is running for governor, but recently filed campaign finance paperwork before a nominating committee. He did say he is planning a press conference early next month.

“There is still a long process. There is a convention. There is an approval,” Piepkorn said.

Piepkorn is president of a company that produces television, film and radio projects and live events. He was first elected in 2016 to the North Dakota Senate, where Democrats hold four of the 47 seats.

Democrat and public safety officer Travis Hipsher of Neche is also running for governor. North Dakota’s Democratic NPL Party will endorse a governorship ticket at the party convention in Fargo next month.

A Democrat last won the office of governor in 1988. The party has not won a statewide office since Heidi Heitkamp’s victory in the U.S. Senate in 2012; she lost re-election in 2018.

Republican Gov. Doug Burgum is not seeking a third term. Republican Rep. Kelly Armstrong, the lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller are vying in the Republican primary for the party’s November nomination. Burgum has endorsed Miller, whom he appointed in December 2022 to replace former Lt. Gov. Brent Sanford.

Independent Michael Coachman, an Air Force veteran from Larimore, is also a candidate.

The term limits adopted by voters in 2022 mean that no future governor can be elected more than twice, although Burgum could have sought a third and even fourth term.

The next governor will take office in mid-December, weeks before the biennial Legislature convenes.

The governor is elected by a joint ticket with a lieutenant governor, but so far only Coachman has named a running mate.

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This story has been corrected to reflect that Coachman has chosen a running mate.