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 County results Burdick: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Strinden: 40–50% 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in North Dakota | ||||||||
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The1988 U.S. Senate election for the state ofNorth Dakota was held November 8, 1988. Incumbent(Democratic-NPL SenatorQuentin Burdick won re-election to his sixth term, defeatingRepublican candidateEarl Strinden.[1]
Only Burdick filed as a Dem-NPLer, and the endorsed Republican candidate wasEarl Strinden ofGrand Forks, North Dakota, who was President of theUniversity of North Dakota Alumni Association. As in the Burdick's previous re-election campaign, the senator's age became an issue for voters as he was 80 years old during the campaign. However, challenger Strinden commented that he did not want to raise the age issue. Burdick and Strinden won the primary elections for their respective parties.
The Burdick campaign hired high-profile Washington, D.C. campaign consultant Bob Squire of Squire Eskew Communications. To counter the potential age issue, Burdick successfully focused the message on the "clout" he had earned over decades in the Senate, as well as his Chairmanship of Senate Agricultural Appropriations sub-committee and his Chairmanship of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Oneindependent candidate, Kenneth C. Gardner, also filed before the deadline, officially calling himself alibertarian. Gardner had previously run forNorth Dakota's otherUnited States Senate seat as an independent in1974, challengingMilton Young. He only received 853 votes in that election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic–NPL | Quentin Burdick (incumbent) | 171,899 | 59.45% | |
| Republican | Earl Strinden | 112,937 | 39.06% | |
| Libertarian | Kenneth C. Gardner | 4,334 | 1.50% | |
| Total votes | 289,170 | 100.00% | ||
| Democratic–NPLhold | ||||
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