Doug Burgum vetoed anti-LGBTQ measures while governor. Then he started running for president

BISMARCK, ND — For the most Doug Burgum, Governor of North Dakota After two terms, he approached the job as a CEO running a company.

The wealthy former software manager, now on a shortlisted to become Donald Trump’s running mate, was laser-focused on priorities like strengthening the state’s economy and cutting taxes. He mainly avoided, and sometimes opposed, social issues that appealed to many fellow Republicans.

In 2020, Burgum criticized an anti-LGBTQ resolution from the state GOP as “hurtful and divisive rhetoric.” He vetoed a 2021 measure to ban transgender girls from playing on girls’ teams in public schools because this would “unnecessarily inject the state into a local issue by introducing a ban with numerous unforeseen consequences.” In 2023, Burgum has vetoed a bill that he said would turn teachers into “pronun police.”

But while Burgum was preparing an attempt at the presidency that spring, so did he signed a stack of bills who imposed restrictions on transgender people – including two which were nearly identical to the sports ban he vetoed in 2021. Another bill banned gender affirming medical treatments for children, and he signed a value which contained provisions nearly identical to parts of the pronoun bill he vetoed earlier in 2023. Burgum signed a bill for a book ban, though he did veto a second, more far-reaching bill. Opponents criticized both bills for targeting LGBTQ issues.

While conservatives cheered, others close to Burgum — who cheer for what they call his independent streak and inclusiveness as a leader — said the signing of the law in 2023 was disappointing and marked a shift as the governor entered the national stage. Some saw Burgum’s willingness to support the measures as an attempt to gain traction among Republicans while eyeing a presidential campaign, or as a response to action in other Republican Party-led states.

Rep. Emily O’Brien, a moderate Republican who opposed the bills but supported Burgum’s bid for president, said it was shocking that Burgum signed them because of his corporate mentality of “trying to move the needle” and improve government, rather than addressing social issues.

“Social issues don’t help move the needle — economic development, quality of life … in his words, ‘treating the taxpayers like customers,'” she said. “I think it’s, you know, that business model mentality of ‘It doesn’t matter who comes in, you treat them with respect.'”

Burgum, through a spokesperson, declined an interview request for this story. He told the Bismarck Tribune after the 2023 session — Burgum’s last regular term as governor — that because Republicans had enough seats in the state legislature to override his vetoes, he “had to pick his spot.” He also lamented the time and energy spent on social issues as “a missed opportunity.”

“I’m talking to real people, creating real jobs, building real businesses and hiring people, and some of the things that the legislature is focused on are not what the citizens are focused on,” according to Burgum.

Caedmon Marx of Bismarck has repeatedly testified against anti-trans bills when they were before the legislature. Rather, Marx viewed Burgum as someone in the political middle who had North Dakota’s best interests at heart.

“After the last session, it was someone with his own interests in mind and his own political gain,” said Marx, whose friend, a transgender man, moved to Minnesota earlier this year because of the new laws.

Burgum, 67, grew up in tiny Arthur, North Dakota. After earning a master’s of business administration degree from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Burgum went on to lead Great Plains Software. In 2001, Microsoft acquired the company for $1.1 billion and Burgum remained vice president until 2007. He led other companies in real estate development and venture capital.

When he launched his candidacy for governor in 2016, Burgum’s announcement — like other speeches he gives — felt like a TED Talk, complete with a slideshow and no lectern. Burgum campaigned on a vision to “reinvent” government as the state faced a $1 billion revenue shortfall that depleted reserves. He defeated North Dakota’s attorney general in the GOP primary, a major surprise.

Burgum is a policy nerd who can talk at length about topics important to him — his recent State of the State speech lasted two hours — like promoting carbon capture or reducing regulations. Sometimes he visibly cries when discussing serious topics, such as his wife Kathryn’s recovery from addiction.

He’s a big fan of North Dakota State University football and could throw a so-called dad joke into a speech. But people who worked with him as governor say he is also extremely curious and works long hours.

When former policy adviser Sean Cleary was dating his current wife in 2019, he would sometimes return to the Capitol after their dates to work for a few more hours, until 11 p.m. or midnight, he said.

Former Lieutenant Governor Brent Sanford recalls a late-night meeting where Burgum looked at him and the others in the room at 1 a.m. and said enthusiastically, “Isn’t this fun, doing work for North Dakota?”

Mostly, Burgum advocated for business-oriented priorities: income tax cuts, updates to state government websites, cybersecurity improvements, raising capital for the state and overhauling the early budgeting process with state agencies.

He has touted a data-driven approach to problems and often talks about “innovation over regulation.”

Burgum took office during the often chaotic government protests Dakota Access oil pipeline, the controversial project that the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has long opposed. Sanford said Burgum showed courage and listening amid the controversy, inviting the tribe’s chairman to his office and hosting a listening session on the tribe’s reservation. In 2019, he announced the display of tribal flags at the entrance to the governor’s Capitol office, a legislative initiative that has been years in the making.

North Dakota’s finances are currently healthy. The 2020 census found the state to be one of the fastest growing. North Dakota tied with South Dakota for the lowest unemployment rate in the U.S., at 2% in May.

Burgum has had to work with a Legislature that has focused more on social-issue legislation in recent years, and has passed more of such bills than in previous sessions. The North Dakota Legislature meets for a regular session only in odd-numbered years.

Last year, two book ban bills passed the legislature. He signed one that targeted “explicit sexual material” in public libraries’ children’s collections and required those libraries to create policies for reviewing their collections, with a “compliance report” for lawmakers. But he vetoed the other bill, which he said went too far in “criminalizing potential disagreements” over certain content and left no money for libraries to review their materials.

In 2023, Burgum also signed one of the strictest abortion bans in the US. The bill largely revised or reorganized North Dakota’s numerous abortion laws following the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. North Dakota’s ban bans abortion with some exceptions: in cases of rape or incest up to six weeks of pregnancy, or to prevent death or “a serious health risk” to the mother.

That law and the ban on gender-affirming care for children are both the subject of ongoing litigation. Burgum has not been outspoken on abortion or transgender issues.

After the state GOP’s anti-LGBTQ resolution gained traction in 2020, Burgum called the state’s first openly gay lawmaker, then the House minority leader, to say he disagreed with it.

Democratic state Rep. Josh Boschee said Burgum told him he would work to keep the resolution out of policy and ensure North Dakota “remains an open and inclusive state because that’s one of the values ​​he has.” , Boschee said. Burgum also shared personal stories about LGBTQ people he knows who have had a positive impact on him, said Boschee, who called it a good conversation.

But during the 2023 session, as Burgum planned his presidential campaign, Boschee said he felt “the independence that many of us admired in him” was disappearing.

“He had to strengthen that foundation,” Boschee said. “When you go to the national stage, you know, other people don’t know that nuance. They would see him sign and he could say he did these things if he wanted to say it out loud.”

It appears that Burgum did not run for president on the strength of those bills, or tout them at rallies: “So why did you do it?” Boschee said. “Was it to get into the job, so you didn’t have to worry about that, and now you can get behind it if you need to?”

The authentic Doug Burgum begins his speech with gratitude, then delves into energy and tax policy, he said.

“I have a lot of positive things to say about Gov. Burgum because of the man I know him to be, which makes it extremely disappointing to see the man he has become in recent months,” the way he is now addressing Donald Trump has attached,” Boschee said.