2012 North Dakota elections

The state of North Dakota held a series of elections on November 6, 2012. In addition to selecting presidential electors, North Dakotan voters selected one of its two United States Senators and its lone United States Representative, as well as seven statewide executive officers and one Supreme Court Justice. Primary elections were held on June 12, 2012.

United States President and Vice President[]

North Dakota voters chose three electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote. Voters selected the Republican challengers, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Congressman Paul Ryan, over the Democratic incumbent President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.^[1]

2012 United States Presidential election in North Dakota^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan	188,320	58.32
	Democratic	Barack Obama and Joe Biden	124,966	38.70
	Libertarian	Gary Johnson and Jim Gray	5,238	1.62
	Write-in		1,860	0.58
	Green	Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala	1,362	1.62
	Constitution	Virgil Goode and Jim Clymer	1,186	0.37
Total votes			322,932	100.00
	Republican win

United States Senator[]

Voters selected a senator to replace the retiring incumbent, Kent Conrad of the Democratic-NPL. Former Democratic-NPL Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp defeated U.S. Representative Rick Berg in a close race.^[1]

2012 United States Senate election in North Dakota^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic-NPL	Heidi Heitkamp	161,337	50.24
	Republican	Rick Berg	158,401	49.32
	Write-in		1,406	0.44
Total votes			321,144	100.00
	Democratic-NPL hold

United States House of Representatives[]

Voters selected a representative to the United States House of Representatives to replace incumbent Republican Rick Berg, who instead ran for the Senate. Republican Public Service Commissioner Kevin Cramer defeated former Democratic-NPL state representative Pam Gulleson.^[1]

2012 United States House of Representatives election in North Dakota^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kevin Cramer	173,585	54.89
	Democratic-NPL	Pam Gulleson	131,870	41.70
	Libertarian	Eric Olson	10,261	3.24
	Write-in		508	0.16
Total votes			316,224	100.00
	Republican hold

Governor[]

In the gubernatorial election, Republican incumbent Governor Jack Dalrymple, who had succeeded to the office when then-Governor John Hoeven resigned, won election to a first full term with his running mate, incumbent Lieutenant Governor Drew Wrigley.^[1]

2012 North Dakota gubernatorial election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jack Dalrymple and Drew Wrigley	200,525	63.10
	Democratic-NPL	Ryan Taylor and Ellen Chaffee	109,048	34.31
	Independent	Paul Sorum and Michael Coachman	5,356	1.69
	Independent	Roland Riemers and Anthony Johns	2,618	0.82
	Write-in		267	0.08
Total votes			317,814	100.00
	Republican hold

State Auditor[]

In the election for State Auditor, voters selected Republican incumbent Bob Peterson over Democratic-NPL state representative Scot Kelsh.^[1]

2012 North Dakota State Auditor election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Peterson	188,859	62.50
	Democratic-NPL	Scot Kelsh	112,803	37.33
	Write-in		515	0.17
Total votes			302,177	100.00
	Republican hold

State Treasurer[]

In the State Treasurer election, Republican incumbent Kelly Schmidt defeated the Democratic-NPL challenger, accountant .^[1]

2012 North Dakota State Treasurer election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kelly Schmidt	197,041	65.83
	Democratic-NPL	Ross Mushik	101,795	34.01
	Write-in		470	0.16
Total votes			299,306	100.00
	Republican hold

Insurance Commissioner[]

In the race for Insurance Commissioner, voters selected Republican incumbent Adam Hamm over the Democratic-NPL challenger .^[1]

2012 North Dakota Insurance Commissioner election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Adam Hamm	192,031	63.25
	Democratic-NPL	Tom Potter	111,099	36.59
	Write-in		483	0.16
Total votes			303,613	100.00
	Republican hold

Public Service Commissioner[]

Voters were given the opportunity to fill one of the three seats on the Public Service Commission, selecting Republican Randy Christmann over Democratic-NPL and Libertarian party candidates.^[1]

2012 North Dakota Public Service Commissioner election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Randy Christmann	164,591	54.48
	Democratic-NPL	Brad Crabtree	123,978	41.04
	Libertarian	Joshua Voytek	13,098	4.34
	Write-in		432	0.14
Total votes			302,099	100.00
	Republican hold

Superintendent of Public Instruction[]

In the nonpartisan election for Superintendent of Public Instruction, voters awarded the position to Kirsten Baesler, who had been endorsed by the Republican Party, instead of Tracy Potter, who had been endorsed by the Democratic-NPL party.^[1]

2012 North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction election^[1]
Candidate	Votes	%
Kirsten Baesler	154,177	55.05
Tracy Potter	124,807	44.57
Write-in	1,069	0.38
Total votes	280,053	100.00

Justice of the Supreme Court[]

In the nonpartisan election for Justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court, Judge Daniel Crothers ran unopposed.^[1]

2012 Justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court election^[1]
Candidate	Votes	%
Daniel Crothers	251,795	99.15
Write-in	2,146	0.85
Total votes	253,941	100.00

References[]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t "Official 2012 General Election Results". ND Voices. North Dakota Secretary of State. Retrieved June 28, 2019.

[official-results-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t "Official 2012 General Election Results". ND Voices. North Dakota Secretary of State. Retrieved June 28, 2019.

[1]

v t Elections in North Dakota
General	2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
Governor	1889 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1921 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
U.S. President	1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
U.S. Senate	1889 1891 1893 1897 1899 1903 1905 1909 1911 1911 (special) 1914 1916 1920 1922 1926 1928 1932 1934 1938 1940 1944 1946 (special) 1946 1950 1952 1956 1958 1960 (special) 1962 1964 1968 1970 1974 1976 1980 1982 1986 1988 1992 1992 (special) 1994 1998 2000 2004 2006 2010 2012 2016 2018 2022 2024
U.S. House	1889 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
See also: Political party strength in North Dakota

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