On your mark

Our Opinion / What kind of North Dakota we envision will bear out in who we choose to be governor

HPR leans left. That’s no secret. We like many aspects of what people call progressive movements. Yet, we also advocate for fiscal prudence.

That said, it will not come as a surprise that we are eagerly anticipating the forthcoming race for governor in North Dakota. No doubt, Gov. Jack Dalrymple’s announcement this week that he will not seek reelection in 2016 has fueled immense speculation.

Several names have bubbled up. Some not unexpected. Heidi Heitkamp. Wayne Stenehjem. Drew Wrigley. Kevin Cramer.

And then Doug Burgum confirmed his interest in running for the post. We consider that name a game changer.

Heitkamp has run for governor before. It’s no secret she wanted that post. Wrigley is considered by many to be a potential heir apparent. Generally, people assume Stenehjem would be a potential contender. Heitkamp and Stenehjem have birds in hand, so to speak, as she is a sitting U.S. Senator and he is the current Attorney General. Media reports say Cramer has said he’s not up for it and will not be running.

Wrigley and Burgum are the two to watch, in our opinion. Each of them has different political history. Both have substantial street cred. While nothing more than a best guess, our prediction is they will very possibly be two of the candidates in the running. And, to top it off, both are Republicans, though Burgum is more centrist and has independent – and even progressive – leanings.

For the sake of disclosure, it’s no secret HPR has been a proponent of Heidi Heitkamp. In fact, to our knowledge, the High Plains Reader was the only newspaper in the entire state of North Dakota that endorsed Heitkamp when she ran for governor and again when she made her bid for the U.S. Senate. We like her a lot, though, like with most any politician or elected leader, we of course have moments where we are not in agreement with her positions or decisions. That said, we’d be surprised if she opted to run, and frankly, we’d be in a pickle if she did.

Because Burgum is our first choice at this moment in time.

We also have significant respect for Wayne Stenehjem. We like him. We have worked with him a lot. Like Heitkamp, he’d be a great governor if elected. Yet, still, we’d be surprised still if he opted to run.

On the Democratic side, our crystal ball is not telling us much. It’s Heidi -- or Heidi -- or perhaps her brother Joel Heitkamp. There obviously will be candidates surfacing. Clay Jenkinson. Roger Johnson. Mac Schneider. Ellen Chaffee. Ryan Taylor.

Doug Burgum and Heidi Heitkamp would be the game changers. Burgum’s candidacy will shake up the GOP nomination process. Heidi’s would make it a horse race. And neither has anything to lose. Burgum will still be the business leader development guru that he is if he were to lose. Heitkamp would still be a U.S. Senator if she ran and lost. They are also the two most progressive names so far, in our opinion, of the ones who at this point could likely pull off a victory.

Another factor will be who each of these candidates would ever pick to be their running mates, filling the post of Lt. Governor. That’s where finesse and political balance could weigh in hugely.

All said and done, the fact that the next governor of North Dakota will be new will in fact invigorate the 2016 election cycle. We are not sure how any of these folks would be impacted by the presidential race, yet that could be a bigger influence than we today might think.

Bottom line, we won’t lose. The people have good choices and there are good candidates to consider. There will be different visions and approaches to governing.

Our future is in the balance. What kind of North Dakota we envision will bear out in who we choose to be at the state’s helm. We are fortunate to say the least.