Governor of North Dakota

The governor of North Dakota is the head of government of North Dakota and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.

The Constitution of North Dakota specifies that "the executive power is vested in the governor" in Section 1. Section 7 indicates that "the governor is the chief executive of the state. The governor shall have the responsibility to see that the state's business is well administered and that its laws are faithfully executed."<ref>http://www.legis.nd.gov/constit/a05.pdf Template:Bare URL PDF</ref>

Eligibility

According to Article 5 of the constitution, to be eligible to hold an elective office as governor, a person must be a qualified elector in North Dakota, must be at least thirty years of age on the day of the election, and must have been a resident of the state for the five years preceding election to office.

Dates of party conventions and gubernatorial nominations

The dates that political parties meet to nominate official candidates for state offices varies by party.

Dates of general elections

The dates of the general election for the office of governor are set by the North Dakota legislative assembly. Traditionally, the general election date coincides with the U.S. presidential election which is the first Tuesday of November in even years, every four years (except when the first Tuesday falls on November 1; in that case, the general election is held on November 8).

The next gubernatorial election in North Dakota is slated for November 7, 2028.

Current governor

The current governor of North Dakota is Republican Kelly Armstrong. He became governor on December 15, 2024.

Governor and lieutenant governor elected together

According to the state constitution, the governor and the lieutenant governor must be elected on a joint ballot, or single ticket.<ref>http://www.legis.nd.gov/constit/a05.pdf Template:Bare URL PDF</ref> In North Dakota, each candidate for governor appears printed on the ballot with the candidate for lieutenant governor of the same political party.

A single vote is cast for both offices; no other option is available to the voter. Therefore, a voter may not choose a single candidate for governor from one political party and a single candidate for lieutenant governor from a competing party.

Additional gubernatorial rights, responsibilities and positions

In addition to his role leading the executive branch offices, the governor has the right to sign or veto laws and to call the Legislative Assembly into emergency session.

The governor is also, by statute, chairman of the North Dakota Industrial Commission.

Length and dates of term

A governor is elected by statewide popular vote to a 4-year term.

North Dakota law specifies that a regular term of an elected governor shall commence on December 15 following the November election in an even year, for a term of precisely four years, ending on December 15 four years after the inauguration of that person.

Date of inauguration, exceptions and inaugural celebrations

The standard date of inauguration to the office of Governor of North Dakota is December 15 following the even-year general election.

Thus, the next scheduled inauguration of the governor will be held on December 15, 2028, for the successful candidate chosen at the November 2028 general election.

Other dates for the regularly scheduled inaugurations were mandated at various times, primarily dates in late December following the general election and several in January of the year following the general election.

There have been cases where the governor of North Dakota was inaugurated on other dates, due to the vacancy of the office of governor. These have included the resignation of the governor, the death in office of a governor, and in one instance, the judicial removal because of a felony conviction of a governor (William Langer; his conviction was later overturned and he was elected to another term).

Inaugural balls and related celebrations have been most often celebrated on the dates of gubernatorial inaugurations.

Although the current governor, Kelly Armstrong, was first inaugurated on December 15, 2024, the formal inaugural celebration was held in January 2025. The decision to conduct the celebration at a later date was made to avoid interference with the busy holiday schedules of many celebrants in December.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Gubernatorial term limits

In November 2022, voters approved an amendment to the North Dakota Constitution that established a lifetime limit of two four-year terms for the office of governor. The amendment only applies to individuals elected after the approval of the amendment.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Previously, there was no limit to the number of terms a governor may serve, if elected.

The longest-serving North Dakota governor was William L. Guy (1961–1973), who served four terms, two being for a two-year term and two being for a four-year term, for a total of 12 years in office. John Hoeven holds the record as the second longest-serving North Dakota governor (2000–2010).

Non-sequential terms

It is possible for a governor to serve non-sequential terms. William Langer is the only one who has done so.

Official residence

The official residence of the governor is the North Dakota Governor's Residence in Bismarck.

List of governors of North Dakota

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

Timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:18 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:50 left:20 AlignBars = late

Define $today = {{#time:d/m/Y}} Define $later = 31/12/{{#time:Y}}

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1889 till:30/03/2029 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/1889 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:8 start:01/01/1889

Colors =

 id:rep       value:rgb(1, 0.2, 0.2) legend:Republican
 id:pop       value:rgb(0.675, 0.882, 0.686) legend:Populist
 id:dem       value:rgb(0.2, 0.2, 1) legend:Democratic
 id:RN        value:rgb(0.988, 0.961, 0.851) legend:Republican/Nonpartisan_League
 id:RI        value:rgb(0.988, 0.357, 0.357) legend:Republican/Independent_Voters
 id:ind       value:rgb(0.867, 0.867, 0.733) legend:Independent
 id:DN        value:rgb(0.392, 0.635, 0.871) legend:Democratic-Nonpartisan_League
 id:linemark  value:gray(0.8)
 id:linemark2 value:gray(0.9)

Legend = columns:1

BarData =

 bar:Miller
 bar:Burke
 bar:Shortridge
 bar:Allin
 bar:Briggs
 bar:Devine
 bar:Fancher
 bar:White
 bar:Sarles
 bar:Burke2
 bar:Hanna
 bar:Frazier
 bar:Nestos
 bar:Sorlie
 bar:Maddock
 bar:Shafer
 bar:Langer
 bar:Olson
 bar:Moodie
 bar:Welford
 bar:Moses
 bar:Aandahl
 bar:Brunsdale
 bar:EDavis
 bar:Guy
 bar:Link
 bar:Olson2
 bar:Sinner
 bar:Schafer
 bar:Hoeven
 bar:Dalrymple
 bar:Burgum
 bar:Armstrong

PlotData=

 width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till
bar:Miller
 from: 20/11/1889 till: 07/01/1891 color:rep text:"John Miller"
bar:Burke
 from: 07/01/1891 till: 04/01/1893 color:rep text:"Andrew H. Burke"
bar:Shortridge
 from: 04/01/1893 till: 09/01/1895 color:pop text:"Eli C. D. Shortridge"
bar:Allin
 from: 09/01/1895 till: 07/01/1897 color:rep text:"Roger Allin"
bar:Briggs
 from: 07/01/1897 till: 09/08/1898 color:rep text:"Frank A. Briggs"
bar:Devine
 from: 09/08/1898 till: 03/01/1899 color:rep text:"Joseph M. Devine"
bar:Fancher
 from: 03/01/1899 till: 07/01/1901 color:rep text:"Frederick B. Fancher"
bar:White
 from: 07/01/1901 till: 04/01/1905 color:rep text:"Frank White"
bar:Sarles
 from: 04/01/1905 till: 09/01/1907 color:rep text:"Elmore Y. Sarles"
bar:Burke2
 from: 09/01/1907 till: 08/01/1913 color:dem text:"John Burke"
bar:Hanna
 from: 08/01/1913 till: 03/01/1917 color:rep text:"L. B. Hanna"
bar:Frazier
 from: 03/01/1917 till: 23/11/1921 color:RN text:"Lynn Frazier"
bar:Nestos
 from: 23/11/1921 till: 07/01/1925 color:RI text:"Ragnvald Nestos" 
bar:Sorlie
 from: 07/01/1925 till: 28/08/1928 color:RN text:"Arthur G. Sorlie"
bar:Maddock
 from: 28/08/1928 till: 09/01/1929 color:RN text:"Walter Maddock"
bar:Shafer
 from: 09/01/1929 till: 04/01/1933 color:RI text:"George F. Shafer"
bar:Langer
 from: 04/01/1933 till: 19/07/1934 color:RN #Langer
 from: 06/01/1937 till: 02/01/1939 color:ind text:"William Langer"
bar:Olson
 from: 19/07/1934 till: 07/01/1935 color:RN text:"Ole H. Olson"
bar:Moodie
 from: 07/01/1935 till: 02/02/1935 color:dem text:"Thomas H. Moodie"
bar:Welford
 from: 02/02/1935 till: 06/01/1937 color:RN text:"Walter Welford"
bar:Moses
 from: 02/01/1939 till: 02/01/1945 color:dem text:"John Moses"
bar:Aandahl
 from: 02/01/1945 till: 03/01/1951 color:rep text:"Fred G. Aandahl"
bar:Brunsdale
 from: 03/01/1951 till: 07/01/1957 color:rep text:"Norman Brunsdale"
bar:EDavis
 from: 07/01/1957 till: 03/01/1961 color:rep text:"John E. Davis"
bar:Guy
 from: 03/01/1961 till: 02/01/1973 color:DN text:"William L. Guy"
bar:Link
 from: 02/01/1973 till: 06/01/1981 color:DN text:"Arthur A. Link"
bar:Olson2
 from: 06/01/1981 till: 31/12/1984 color:rep text:"Allen I. Olson"
bar:Sinner
 from: 01/01/1985 till: 15/12/1992 color:DN text:"George A. Sinner"
bar:Schafer
 from: 15/12/1992 till: 15/12/2000 color:rep text:"Ed Schafer"
bar:Hoeven
 from: 15/12/2000 till: 07/12/2010 color:rep text:"John Hoeven"
bar:Dalrymple
 from: 07/12/2010 till: 15/12/2016 color:rep text:"Jack Dalrymple"
bar:Burgum
 from: 15/12/2016 till: 15/12/2024 color:rep text:"Doug Burgum"
bar:Armstrong
 from: 15/12/2024 till: $today color:rep text:"Kelly Armstrong"

</timeline>

See also

• North Dakota
• Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota
• North Dakota State Legislature

External links

• Template:Official website