
Thegovernor of North Dakota is thehead of government of theU.S. state ofNorth Dakota. Thegovernor is the head of theexecutive branch ofNorth Dakota's state government and is charged with enforcing state laws.
There have been 32 governors since North Dakota became a state, serving 33 distinct terms, withWilliam Langer having been elected to multiple terms. The current officeholder isRepublicanKelly Armstrong.
Dakota Territory was organized on March 2, 1861;[1] on November 2, 1889, it was split into the states of North Dakota andSouth Dakota.[2]
TheConstitution of North Dakota originally provided for the election of a governor and lieutenant governor every two years, which was changed to four years in 1964.[3] A limit of two terms was added in 2023.[4] The governor and lieutenant governor are elected together on aticket,[5] and should the office of governor become vacant, the lieutenant governor becomes governor.[6] The term of office begins on the December 15 following the election.[7]
| Year | Democratic–NPL nominee | Republican nominee | Independent candidate | Libertarian nominee | Other candidate | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | # | % | Candidate | # | % | Candidate | # | % | Candidate | # | % | Candidate | # | % | ||||||
| 1950 | Clyde G. Byerly | 61,950 | 33.71% | Norman Brunsdale | 121,822 | 66.29% | – | – | – | |||||||||||
| 1952 | Ole C. Johnson | 53,990 | 21.26% | Norman Brunsdale | 199,944 | 78.74% | – | – | – | |||||||||||
| 1954 | Cornelius Bymers | 69,248 | 35.79% | Norman Brunsdale | 124,253 | 64.21% | – | – | – | |||||||||||
| 1956 | Wallace E. Warner | 104,869 | 41.54% | John E. Davis | 147,566 | 58.46% | – | – | – | |||||||||||
| 1958 | John F. Lord | 98,763 | 46.90% | John E. Davis | 111,836 | 53.10% | – | – | – | |||||||||||
| 1960 | William L. Guy | 136,148 | 49.44% | Clarence P. Dahl | 122,486 | 44.48% | Herschel Lashkowitz | 16,741 | 6.08% | – | – | |||||||||
| 1962 | William L. Guy | 115,258 | 50.44% | Mark Andrews | 113,251 | 49.56% | – | – | – | |||||||||||
| 1964 | William L. Guy | 146,414 | 55.74% | Donald M. Halcrow | 116,247 | 44.26% | – | – | – | |||||||||||
| 1968 | William L. Guy | 135,955 | 54.82% | Robert P. McCarney | 108,382 | 43.70% | Leo Landsberger (Taxpayers Revival) | 3,663 | 1.48% | – | – | |||||||||
| 1972 | Arthur A. Link | 143,899 | 51.04% | Richard F. Larsen | 138,032 | 48.96% | – | – | – | |||||||||||
| 1976 | Arthur A. Link | 153,309 | 51.58% | Richard Elkin | 138,321 | 46.53% | – | – | Martin K. Vaaler (American) | 5,619 | 1.89% | |||||||||
| 1980 | Arthur A. Link | 140,391 | 46.39% | Allen I. Olson | 162,230 | 53.61% | – | – | – | |||||||||||
| 1984 | George A. Sinner | 173,922 | 55.32% | Allen I. Olson | 140,460 | 44.68% | – | – | – | |||||||||||
| 1988 | George A. Sinner | 179,094 | 59.88% | Leon Malberg | 119,986 | 40.12% | – | – | – | |||||||||||
| 1992 | Nicholas Spaeth | 123,845 | 40.62% | Ed Schafer | 176,398 | 57.86% | Harley McClain | 2,614 | 0.86% | – | Michael DuPaul | 2,004 | 0.66% | |||||||
| 1996 | Lee Kaldor | 89,349 | 33.81% | Ed Schafer | 174,937 | 66.19% | – | – | – | |||||||||||
| 2000 | Heidi Heitkamp | 130,144 | 44.97% | John Hoeven | 159,255 | 55.03% | – | – | – | |||||||||||
| 2004 | Joe Satrom | 84,877 | 27.39% | John Hoeven | 220,803 | 71.26% | – | Roland Riemers | 4,193 | 1.35% | – | |||||||||
| 2008 | Tim Mathern | 74,279 | 23.53% | John Hoeven | 235,009 | 74.44% | DuWayne Hendrickson | 6,404 | 2.03% | – | – | |||||||||
| 2012 | Ryan Taylor | 109,048 | 34.31% | Jack Dalrymple | 200,525 | 63.10% | Paul Sorum | 5,356 | 1.69% | – | Roland Riemers | 2,618 | 0.82% | |||||||
| 2016 | Marvin Nelson | 65,855 | 19.39% | Doug Burgum | 259,863 | 76.52% | – | Marty Riske | 13,230 | 3.90% | – | |||||||||
| 2020 | Shelley Lenz | 90,789 | 25.38% | Doug Burgum | 235,479 | 65.84% | – | DuWayne Hendrickson | 13,853 | 3.87% | – | |||||||||
| 2024 | Merrill Piepkorn | 94,043 | 25.98% | Kelly Armstrong | 247,056 | 68.26% | Michael Coachman | 20,322 | 5.61% | – | – | |||||||||