North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum ends 2024 Republican presidential bid days before the fourth debate

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has ended his 2024 Republican presidential bid. Burgum blames the Republican National Committee for arbitrary debate qualifications in dropping his campaign before the fourth presidential debate on Wednesday (Dec. 6, 2023) in Alabama. The second-term governor and wealthy software entrepreneur was little known nationally when he launched his presidential campaign in June. Burgum touted his priorities of energy, the economy and national security as well as his small-town roots and leadership of the sparsely populated state. But Burgum had a stronger-than-expected showing in the race fueled by a gift card-for-campaign donation gimmick that helped him qualify for the first two debates.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum ended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on Monday (Dec. 4, 2023) despite a stronger-than-expected showing fueled by a gift card-for-campaign donation gimmick that helped get him on the debate stage.

Burgum, a second-term governor and wealthy software entrepreneur, was little known nationally when he launched his 2024 presidential campaign in June, touting his priorities of energy, the economy and national security, as well as his small-town roots and leadership of the sparsely populated state.

He participated in the first two Republican debates, meeting donor requirements of the Republican National Committee by offering $20 Biden Relief Cards — a jab at rising inflation rates during President Joe Biden’s term — in exchange for $1 donations. The tactic drew skepticism over its legality, though Burgum’s campaign said its legal advisers had reviewed and approved the method.

He failed to qualify for the third debate, however, after coming up short on the polling requirements. And it appeared that he would also not qualify for the fourth debate, which is being held Wednesday in Alabama.

Indeed, he blamed the RNC, which sets qualifications for the debates, for “nationalizing the primary process and taking the power of democracy away from the engaged, thoughtful citizens of Iowa and New Hampshire.”

“It is not their mission to reduce competition and restrict fresh ideas by ‘narrowing the field’ months before the Iowa caucuses or the first in the nation New Hampshire primary,” he wrote in his statement announcing his departure. “These arbitrary criteria ensure advantages for candidates from major media markets on the coasts versus America’s Heartland. None of their debate criteria relate to the qualifications related to actually doing the job of the president.”

Ultimately, he was unable to gain much traction against his rivals in a contest dominated by former President Donald Trump. He joins former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, radio show host Larry Elder, businessman Perry Johnson, former Texas congressman Will Hurd and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez in suspending his bid.

Burgum injected millions of his own money into the race, accounting for $12.2 million of the $15.1 million raised by his campaign from March through September, according to Federal Election Commission filings. A super PAC supporting his bid raised over $11 million in the first six months of this year, according to filings.

He nearly missed his first opportunity for national public exposure when he ruptured his Achilles tendon the day before the inaugural debate in August in Milwaukee. But he persevered through, later telling reporters that he stood on one leg behind the podium.

He resumed campaigning with a boot and a knee scooter afterward.

Burgum was a political newcomer in 2016 when he staged an upset over the longtime attorney general in North Dakota’s Republican gubernatorial primary. He is now in his second term as governor and is eligible for a third in 2024, though he hasn’t indicated whether he plans to run again.

Burgum entered office amid the Dakota Access pipeline protests and a massive state revenue shortfall. He touted a vision of “reinventing” state government as a candidate and after winning.

Among his biggest legislative pushes have been a Theodore Roosevelt presidential library near Medora in 2019, income tax relief earlier this year, and again, though unsuccessfully, in an October special session, which kept him off the campaign trail for a few days.

He drew attention in the 2020 and 2022 elections for spending millions of his own money in an effort to target legislative seats held by fellow Republicans, including the longtime chairman of the powerful House budget-writing panel.

In 2021, he vetoed bills banning state-issued mask mandates and restricting transgender students from public schools’ sports, though the Legislature overrode him on the former. In 2023, he signed about a dozen bills opponents saw as restricting transgender people, including new sports bills and a ban on gender-affirming care for kids.

Before his time as governor, Burgum was largely known as a businessman who led Great Plains Software, which Microsoft acquired for over $1 billion in 2001. He stayed on as an executive with Microsoft until 2007. He’s led other companies in real estate development and venture capital.

MAY 26, 2023:

UNDATED (AP)- A political aide familiar with the plans says two-term North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is running for the Republican presidential nomination. That puts the governor and former computer software entrepreneur in an already crowded field dominated by ex-President Donald Trump. The aide said Burgum plans to launch his campaign with a June 7, 2023, and spoke on the condition of anonymity because the event had not been publicized yet. Burgum has signed legislation rolling back transgender rights, and North Dakota has one of the nation’s strictest anti-abortion laws. But heThius go is expected to emphasize his business background, his small-town roots and a large state tax cut this year.

UNDATED (AP)- Two-term North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a former computer software entrepreneur, is running for the Republican presidential nomination, a political aide familiar with the plans told The Associated Press on Friday, putting him in an already crowded field dominated by ex-President Donald Trump,

The aide said Burgum plans to launch his campaign with a June 7, 2023, event in Fargo, the largest city in North Dakota. The aide was speaking on the condition of anonymity because the event had not been publicized yet.

The 66-year-old Burgum is jumping into a field that includes fellow Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, seen by some Republicans as the strongest alternative to Trump. Other candidates include former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Former Vice President Mike Pence is also considered a likely presidential candidate but has not yet announced a bid.

The eventual GOP nominee is expected to face Democratic President Joe Biden in November 2024.

While Burgum has joined other Republican governors in signing legislation rolling back transgender rights, he’s expected to emphasize his business background, small-town roots and a large state tax cut this year. Burgum, first elected in 2016, was reelected in 2020 and is eligible to run for governor again in 2024.

In Iowa, where caucuses are expected to be the first-in-the-nation GOP contest, Republican Bruce Rastetter, a wealthy agricultural and energy businessman who met Burgum three years ago, described the North Dakota governor as “a successful guy” and “really smart.” But Rastetter, who has been an influential donor and adviser to presidential campaigns in Iowa, said Burgum’s strength also comes from presenting as “a regular guy.”

“He’s stayed a regular guy, but really understands issues on ag, energy and foreign policy,” said Rastetter, who is helping Burgum make introductions in Iowa, but is so far neutral in the developing 2024 Iowa caucus campaign.

The company Burgum started in 1983, Great Plains Software, was acquired by Microsoft in 2011, and Burgum stayed on as a Microsoft vice president until 2007. He also founded real estate development and venture capital firms.

He grew up in Arthur, an eastern North Dakota town of about 300 people, 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Fargo.

Burgum this year signed legislation that reduced state income taxes and provided local property tax relief, with the savings estimated at $515 million. His office touted the income tax cut as the largest in state history.

But with DeSantis building a national profile for anti-LGBTQ+ measures and describing his state of Florida as where “woke goes to die,” culture war issues dominated legislating this year in North Dakota and other states controlled by Republicans.

The measures signed this year by Burgum prohibit public schools and government entities from requiring teachers and employees to refer to transgender people by the pronouns they use; bar transgender girls and women from joining female sports teams, from K-12 through college; and criminalize health care providers who give gender-affirming care to minors. A new law also limits transgender children and adults in accessing the bathrooms, locker rooms and showers of their choice, from schools to state-run colleges and correctional facilities.

North Dakota also has one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the nation after Burgum last month signed a ban on abortion throughout pregnancy with slim exceptions up to six weeks’ gestation.