Crystal Dueker of Fargo walks back to her seat during the NDGOP state convention on March 28, 2026, after speaking in opposition to a motion to strip the Republican statewide candidates not attending the convention of their Republican status. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
MINOT, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – Vice President JD Vance was the favored 2028 presidential candidate in a straw poll of some North Dakota Republican delegates during the weekend’s state convention.
The poll, which had 134 participants, had Vance as the top candidate with 65 votes over Secretary of State Marco Rubio with 35 votes. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was third with seven votes.
Former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who attempted a presidential run in 2024 and now serves as Trump’s Interior secretary, had just one vote. The mention of Burgum’s name prompted some boos in the audience as results were read Saturday.
Former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who Trump recently replaced as Homeland Security secretary, scored higher than Burgum with four votes.
The top three picks aligned with a straw poll of conservatives gathered for the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas, as reported by New York Times reporter Kellen Browning.
Northwest leads attendance
A total of 721 delegates participated in the weekend North Dakota Republican Party state convention, with numbers dipping closer to 600 on Sunday based on vote totals announced.
The strongest turnout came from District 2 in the northwest corner of the state, with 52 votes recorded in a Sunday vote. The controversial motion to strip Republican incumbents from the party brand for skipping the convention came from District 2 Chair Jerol Gohrick of Tioga, one of the founders of the ND Sons of Liberty.
Delegate counts by district were not available. Based on votes cast, District 3, which includes Minot, neighboring District 6 and south-central District 8 also had strong participation, with 40 or more votes recorded at times.
The lowest turnout came from District 9, which after redistricting has an all-Democrat legislative delegation and includes voters from the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and Spirit Lake Nation. The district had no delegates participating Saturday. One delegate, former Republican Sen. Judy Estenson, participated in District 9 Sunday.
Eastern North Dakota’s District 20, which includes the Hillsboro area, had four votes recorded Saturday, but delegates apparently left early, with no votes recorded late Saturday or on Sunday.
Party leaders did not announce a number of delegates in attendance Sunday. The first vote taken Sunday had 609 participants, which included one spoiled ballot. A total of 707 delegates had been credentialed as of Saturday, with additional people joining Sunday, according to reports from the credentialing committee.
Attendance was down significantly from the past two Republican conventions, though some said those comparisons weren’t fair because the most recent events were in larger cities and had contested races.
In 2024, Republicans had about 1,470 delegates at the NDGOP convention in Fargo. That year also saw a presidential election, a contested governor’s race and multiple candidates running for U.S. House.
The 2022 convention had about 2,320 delegates in 2022, KX News reported at the time. Perrie Schafer, former party chair, said that convention was the largest in his memory, going back more than 20 years. That year featured a contested endorsing race for U.S. Senate between Sen. John Hoeven and former state lawmaker Rick Becker.
North Dakota Democrats who recently held a state convention in Bismarck had 452 delegates participate.
Unendorsed races
With only two candidates seeking the NDGOP endorsement this weekend, that left the party without endorsed candidates for the partisan races of attorney general, agriculture commissioner, secretary of state, tax commissioner, and a two-year term on the Public Service Commission.
Delegates did not consider any floor nominations for candidates, which would have been against the rules. They also resisted an effort to provide a symbolic letter of recommendation for Republican PSC candidate Chris Olson of Baldwin who decided to run after the deadline to seek an endorsement.
Charles Tuttle, a frequent candidate and activist who most recently ran unsuccessfully as an independent for secretary of state in 2022, briefly addressed delegates Sunday about his campaign for superintendent of public instruction. Tuttle did not seek a letter of support, which parties can offer for the nonpartisan race, and delegates took no action after hearing from Tuttle. In a Facebook video earlier this month, Tuttle said he was running for a two-year seat on the PSC.
One delegate, Steven Ames of Munich, from District 15, said he was upset that the Republican statewide incumbent office holders seeking election in 2026 didn’t show up to the convention, but he knows what he’s going to do when he sees their names on the ballot this June.
“Just leave it blank,” Ames said.
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