As North Dakota’s Governor, Doug Burgum has been touted for his data-driven approach to problems and frequent talks about “innovation over regulation.” However, behind-the-scenes conversations reveal a more complex individual who has had to navigate state politics while also planning his presidential campaign.
One Democratic state Rep., Josh Boschee, shared a personal anecdote about Burgum’s early budgeting process with state agencies. According to Boschee, Burgum displayed courage and listening amid the controversy surrounding the Dakota Access oil pipeline project long opposed by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. He invited tribal chairman to his office and hosted a listening session on their reservation.
In 2019, he announced displaying tribal flags near the entrance of his state Capitol office, a legislative push for years. Today, North Dakota’s finances are in healthy shape; it was one of the fastest-growing states according to the 2020 census. The state also had tied with South Dakota for the lowest unemployment rate in May at 2%.
However, Burgum has faced challenges working with a Legislature that focused more on social-issue legislation and approved more bills than previous sessions. Two book ban bills passed last year; he signed one targeting “explicit sexual material” in public libraries’ children’s collections but vetoed another bill which went too far in “criminalizing potential disagreements” over certain content.
In 2023, Burgum also signed one of the strictest abortion bans in the US, largely revising or reorganizing North Dakota’s myriad abortion laws after the US Supreme Court’s 2022 decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. The law outlaws abortion with few exceptions: in cases of rape or incest up to six weeks gestation, or to prevent death of “a serious health risk” to the mother.
That law and the ban on gender-affirming care for kids are both subject to ongoing lawsuits; Burgum has not been outspoken on these issues. After a state GOP’s anti-LGBTQ resolution gained attention in 2020, Burgum telephoned then-House minority leader, who was also North Dakota’s first openly gay lawmaker, saying he disagreed with it.
Democratic Rep., Josh Boschee said that during the conversation, Burgum shared personal stories about LGBTQ people he knows who have had a positive impact on him. However, as Burgum planned his presidential campaign in 2023 and sensed “the independence I think many of us admired about him” was going away.
“He had to shore up that base,” Boschee said. “When you are going to the national stage, you know other people wouldn’t know that nuance. They would see he signed these things if he wanted to say it out loud.”