Get ready for another contender in the growing field of Republican presidential candidates.
A presidential campaign launch by two-term North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, a former software company CEO, is imminent, with a major announcement in Fargo, North Dakota scheduled for June 7, sources familiar with his plans confirmed to Fox News on Friday.
Burgum has come close to launching a presidential campaign, and last week Fox News was the first to report that the governor was shooting television ads in preparation for a run at the White House. And in recent weeks, Burgum had also begun working with political consultants with presidential campaign experience.
And Burgum earlier this spring took a trip to Iowa, the state leading the GOP presidential nominating schedule.
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North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum speaks at the state Capitol on April 10, 2020 in Bismarck, North Dakota. (Mike McCleary/The Bismarck Tribune via AP, File)
The governor, who is not well known outside of North Dakota, would be considered a dark-horse candidate in a field of actual and expected 2024 GOP presidential candidates with much higher name recognition, including current clear frontrunner Ex-Pres. Trump, Florida. Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former ambassador and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott.
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But Burgum would enter the 2024 presidential race as one of the richest members of the Republican camp along with billionaire businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and Trump.
Burgum grew his small company, Great Plains Software, into a billion dollar software company. His business, and its North Dakota-based workers, were eventually acquired by Microsoft, and Burgum stayed on board as a senior vice president.
In 2016, the then-first-time candidate and longshot convincingly beat an establishment GOP favorite to secure the Republican nomination in North Dakota before going on to a landslide victory in the general election for governor in the solid red state. Burgum was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2020 to a second term as governor.
Fargo, where Burgum is expected to make his announcement, is close to his small hometown of Arthur, and sources with knowledge of the governor’s thinking say he’s “emphasizing that a theme of the campaign is that he’s the only candidate of a small-town heartland. and Americans want more values from small towns. One of their greatest perceived weaknesses is actually their best virtue.”
North Dakota Republican Gov. Doug Burgum delivers the annual State of the State address on February 16, 2022 in Fargo, North Dakota. (Stephen Yang/Getty Images)
They also point out that Fargo is also where Burgum built Great Plains Software, and that as governor he has helped rebuild North Dakota’s largest city into an urban area that has been ranked as one of the best places for young people .
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The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on Burgum’s long-awaited announcement on June 7.
Sources close to Burgum say the governor would likely focus a presidential campaign on two issues: the economy and energy. However, Burgum, who served as president of the Western Governors Association, could also point to his recent moves as governor to sign a strict measure banning abortion six weeks into pregnancy with limited exceptions , as well as legislation to restrict the rights of transgender people and a bill that makes it a criminal offense to care for minors in the state that establishes the gender.
Paul Steinhauser is a political reporter based in New Hampshire.
