North Dakota Auditor election, 2016
2020→ ←2012 |
 |
June 14, 2016 |
November 8, 2016 |
Josh Gallion (R) |
Robert Peterson (R) |
Governor and Lt. Governor •Treasurer Down Ballot Auditor •Insurance Commissioner Public Service Commission Superintendent of Schools |
April 11, 2016 |
March 31-April 2, 2016  April 1-3, 2016  |
June 14, 2016 |
September 6, 2016 |
October 18, 2016 |
November 8, 2016 |
TBD |
December 15, 2016 |
North Dakota held an election forstate auditor onNovember 8, 2016. Longtime incumbentRobert Peterson (R) did not run for re-election.Josh Gallion (R) won the election, keeping the seat under Republican control.
Overview
The North Dakota state auditor provides citizens, legislators, and government officials with professional and independent evaluations of North Dakota's financial records and performance reports. Longtime incumbentRobert Peterson (R) did not run for re-election, leaving the 2016 election an open race.
North Dakota has been underRepublican trifecta control since 1995. A Democrat has not held the position of state auditor in North Dakota since Arthur W. Porter in 1894; he served one two-year term before losing his re-election bid.
Accounting manager for theNorth Dakota Public Service CommissionJosh Gallion (R) was the sole major party candidate to file for the seat. He competed in the November 8 general election with independent property managerRoland Riemers (Lib.). Republicans were expected to retain control of the seat in 2016. Gallion won the general election on November 8, 2016.
Candidates
Josh Gallion(R)
Accounting manager for thePublic Service Commission
Roland Riemers(Lib.)
Independent property manager, investor
Results
General election
Josh Gallion defeatedRoland Riemers in the North Dakota auditor election.
| North Dakota Auditor, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Josh Gallion | 76.62% | 236,751 | |
| Libertarian | Roland Riemers | 22.92% | 70,818 | |
| Write-in votes | 0.46% | 1,423 | ||
| Total Votes | 308,992 | |||
| Source:North Dakota Secretary of State | ||||
Primary elections
Josh Gallion ran unopposed in the Republican primary for auditor.
| Republican primary for auditor, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Josh Gallion (unopposed) | 99.73% | 91,531 |
| Write-in votes | 0.27% | 249 |
| Total Votes (432 of 432 precincts reporting) | 91,780 | |
| Source:North Dakota Secretary of State | ||
Roland Riemers ran unopposed in the Libertarian primary for auditor.
| Libertarian primary for auditor, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Roland Riemers (unopposed) | 99.81% | 1,059 |
| Write-in votes | 0.19% | 2 |
| Total Votes (432 of 432 precincts reporting) | 1,061 | |
| Source:North Dakota Secretary of State | ||
Context of the 2016 election
Primary elections
Aprimary 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 anopen primary system, in which voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.[1][2][3] 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 atop-two primary, with the top-two vote getters advancing to the general election.
North Dakota's primary elections took place onJune 14, 2016.
IncumbentRobert Peterson (R)
Peterson was first elected auditor in 1996 and easily won re-election by margins of greater than 20 percent every four years since. He assumed office in January 1997, replacing his father, Robert W. Peterson (R), who had served as auditor since 1973. The two controlled the office for a cumulative 34 years. Prior to his tenure as auditor, he worked as an accounting and budget specialist in the North Dakota State Land Department.
Party control in North Dakota
North Dakota has been underRepublican trifecta control since 1995, and Republicans have seen comfortable margins of victory in recent statewide elections. The 2012 RepublicanDalrymple/Wrigley ticket for governor won by a nearly 30-point margin.[4] In 2014, Attorney General Stenehjem won a fifth term in office with over 74 percent of the vote.[5]
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 asMitt Romney carried the state by a nearly 20-point margin and Dalrymple was elected governor by an even larger margin.[6] Before Heitkamp, North Dakotans were represented in the United States Senate by DemocratKent Conrad, who won election five times. During his 1992 re-election bid, he defeated Jack Dalrymple by a 30-point margin.[7][8]
A Democrat has not held the position of state auditor in North Dakota since Arthur W. Porter in 1894; he served one two-year term before losing his re-election bid.[9] Republicans were expected to retain control of the seat in 2016.
North Dakota Party Control: 1992-2025
No Democratic trifectas • Thirty-one years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.
Campaigns
Campaign finance
| Josh Gallion Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| Pre-Primary | May 12, 2016 | $1,903.25 | $7,578 | $() | $2,181.86 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $7,578 | $(0) | ||||||||
| Roland Riemers Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| Pre-Primary | Mary 7, 2016 | $0 | $0 | $() | $0 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $0 | $(0) | ||||||||
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
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About the office
- See also:North Dakota State Auditor
TheNorth Dakota state auditor provides citizens, legislators, and government officials with professional and independent evaluations of North Dakota's financial records and performance reports.[10]
Incumbent
The incumbent wasRobert Peterson(R). He was first elected in 1996, succeeding his father in the office. His term expired in 2016.[11]
QualificationsArticle V, Section 4 of theNorth Dakota Constitution establishes the qualifications to hold the office of auditor:
| 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.[12] |
- qualified North Dakota voter
- at least 25 years old
- a resident of North Dakota for at least the five preceding years
Authority
Thestate Constitution establishes the office of auditor inArticle 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. ...[12] |
Term Length
The four-year term length was established after aninitiated constitutional amendment on the 1964 ballot was approved. Prior to this, the term length was two years.[13]
Vacancies
Article V, Section 8 addresses vacancies in state executive offices. In the event of a vacancy, thegovernor nominates a successor who must be confirmed by thestate senate. Once confirmed, the individual serves the remainder of the unexpired term.[12]
Elections
The auditor in North Dakota is popularly elected every four years, in presidential election years. For North Dakota, 2016 and 2020 are auditor election years. The term of office is four years.[12]
Full history
To view the electoral history dating back to 2000 for the office of North Dakota State Auditor, click [show] to expand the section. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2012 IncumbentRobert Peterson (R) won re-election in 2012. He defeatedScot Kelsh (D) in theNovember 6, 2012 general election.
On November 4, 2008,Robert Peterson won re-election to the office of North Dakota State Auditor. He defeated Daryl Splichal (D-NPL) in the general election.
2004 On November 2, 2004,Robert Peterson won re-election to the office of North Dakota State Auditor. He defeated Brent Edison (D-NPL) in the general election.
2000 On November 7, 2000,Robert Peterson won re-election to the office of North Dakota State Auditor. He defeatedMary Ekstrom in the general election.
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Recent news
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See also
North Dakota government: | Previous elections: | Ballotpedia exclusives: |
External links
Footnotes
- ↑National Conference of State Legislatures Website, "State Primary Election Types," accessed January 6, 2014
- ↑Fair Vote, "Congressional and Presidential Primaries: Open, Closed, Semi-Closed, and 'Top Two,'" accessed January 6, 2014
- ↑Ballotpedia research conducted December 26, 2013, through January 3, 2014, researching and analyzing various state websites and codes.
- ↑North Dakota Secretary of State, "NORTH DAKOTA OFFICIAL ABSTRACT OF VOTES CAST AT THE GENERAL ELECTION HELD ON NOVEMBER 6, 2012," accessed Aug. 24, 2015
- ↑North Dakota Secretary of State, "Official Results, General Election - November 4, 2014
- ↑The New York Times, "Election 2012: North Dakota," accessed August 24, 2015
- ↑U.S. News, "10 things you didn't know about Kent Conrad," accessed Aug. 24, 2015
- ↑North Dakota Secretary of State, "OFFICIAL ABSTRACT OF VOTES CAST AT THE SPECIAL ELECTION HELD DECEMBER 4,1992," accessed Aug. 24, 2015
- ↑Digital Horizons, "North Dakota blue book, 2015-2017," accessed June 9, 2016
- ↑North Dakota Office of the State Auditor, "About OSA," accessed Oct. 3, 2015
- ↑Wikipedia, "Bob Peterson," accessed Oct. 3, 2015
- ↑12.012.112.212.3[www.legis.nd.gov/constitutionNorth Dakota Legislative Branch, "Constitution," accessed Oct. 3, 2015]
- ↑North Dakota Secretary of State Archived Election Results, "Primary Election Results - 1964," accessed March 18, 2014
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