North Dakota down ballot state executive elections, 2014

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North Dakota Down Ballot State Executive Elections

Primary Date: June 10, 2014

General Election Date: November 4, 2014

North Dakota State Executive Elections Top Ballot Secretary of State • Attorney General Down Ballot Agriculture Commissioner, Tax Commissioner, Public Service Commissioner

Four down ballot state executive positions were up for election in the state of North Dakota in 2014. The four down ballot offices up for election in 2014 were the North Dakota Commissioner of Agriculture, the North Dakota Tax Commissioner and two seats on the North Dakota Public Service Commission. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.

Incumbents in all four races sought re-election in 2014. Doug Goehring (R) ran for another term as agriculture commissioner in a contentious race with Ryan Taylor (D). To learn more about the overlap between the state's oil boom and the 2014 agriculture commissioner race, check out the race background section. Ryan Rauschenberger (R) faced Jason Astrup (D) and Anthony Mangnall for another term as the state's tax commissioner. Voters were also tasked with choosing between Republican and Democratic candidates for two seats on the state's public service commission.

Doug Goehring, Ryan Rauschenberger, Brian Kalk and Julie Fedorchak won in the general election.

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. A primary election is also sometimes used to choose convention delegates and party leaders; however, these selection processes can vary from state to state and party to party within a state. In North Dakota, precinct, district, and state party officials are selected at party caucuses and conventions, not at the state-administered primary election. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. North Dakota utilizes an open primary system, in which voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.^[1][2][3]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

Agriculture Commissioner

Candidates

General election

Doug Goehring - Incumbent
Ryan Taylor^[4]

Withdrew

Judy Estenson^[5][6]

Results

General election

North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Doug Goehring Incumbent	57%	139,597
	Democratic	Ryan Taylor	42.9%	105,094
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.2%	377
Total Votes				245,068
Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State

Duties

Agriculture is one of North Dakota's leading industries, and the commissioner is responsible for ensuring the safety of people, animals, and plants across the state. The primary duties of the office are:

• protect livestock and other domestic animals from disease
• inspect farms and processing plants
• regulate pesticide production, use and disposal
• provide mediation services to farmers
• certify the state's commodities
• work with local jurisdictions on crop control^[7]

Race background

Energy policy is a major issue in North Dakota. To learn more, see "Energy policy in North Dakota."

The North Dakota Commissioner of Agriculture also serves as a member on the state's three-member Industrial Commission. This commission, among many duties, regulates North Dakota's oil and gas industry.^[8] The race for agriculture commissioner took on a heightened profile due to candidate disagreements over how to deal with the rush to extract oil and gas from the Bakken shale.

The incumbent, Republican Doug Goehring, expressed support for an accelerated rate of oil extraction, opposing legislation that might slow down the growth of drilling.^[9] In a speech at the state Republican convention, he implied support for a balanced approach, saying that "the ties between agriculture and energy have never been more important that they are today," but the North Dakota Farm Bureau endorsed his primary challenger, Judy Estenson.^[10] Estenson, who was running to reform the office following allegations of mismanagement and harassment, lost the state GOP endorsement and dropped out of the race.^[10][11]

The Democratic challenger, Ryan Taylor, expressed concern about the consequences of the oil rush. He said, "You can’t unleash all that oil and then wonder why the train tracks are full of oil tankers and you can’t get grain on from the elevators in North Dakota and get that product to market."^[12] Taylor advocated for greater weight on agricultural considerations; he was described as "the man who’s going to bring balance to the Industrial Commission."^[12]

Campaign finance

Campaign finance disclosures filed by early October showed Goehring with $339,000 in contributions compared to $285,000 for Taylor.^[13]

Issues background: Fracking

See also: Fracking in North Dakota

Since oil was first struck in 1951 in North Dakota, over 13,000 wells have been drilled. The graph to the right shows how oil production has soared in the state, growing from 45.14 million barrels of oil in 2007, to 313.8 million barrels in 2013. This growth has brought both opportunities and challenges for the state. A study for the American Petroleum Institute estimated that 12 percent of state employment, and 13.1 percent of labor income in 2011, was due to the oil and gas industry.

The growth of the industry has also brought challenges, however, as large numbers of people have moved to the area seeking employment. This migration has increased the demand for housing, as well as police, fire and other government services. Additionally, concerns have been raised over the potential environmental impacts of such a large-scale boom. While fracking has been used for decades in the United States, there are concerns over the ability of regulators to enforce environmental protections consistently.^{[14][15][16][17]}

Polls

Campaign finance

Comprehensive donor information for this election has been collected by Follow the Money. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $895,849 during the election. This information was last updated on April 3, 2015.^[18]

Campaign Contribution Totals
Candidate	Office	Result	Contributions
Doug Goehring	North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner		$553,442
Ryan Taylor	North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner		$342,407
Grand Total Raised			$895,849

Past elections

2010

North Dakota Commissioner of Agriculture, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Doug Goehring Incumbent	68%	157,867
	Democratic	Merle Boucher	31.9%	74,143
Total Votes				232,226

2006

On November 7, 2006, Roger Johnson won re-election to the office of North Dakota Commissioner of Agriculture. He defeated Doug Goehring (R) in the general election.

North Dakota Commissioner of Agriculture, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Roger Johnson Incumbent	55.8%	119,812
	Republican	Doug Goehring	44.2%	94,736
Total Votes				214,548
Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State.

Tax Commissioner

Candidates

General election

Ryan Rauschenberger - Incumbent
Jason Astrup^[19]
Anthony Mangnall^[19]

Results

General election

North Dakota Tax Commissioner, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Ryan Rauschenberger Incumbent	56.8%	135,329
	Democratic	Jason Astrup	36.7%	87,516
	Libertarian	Anthony Mangnall	6.4%	15,238
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.1%	344
Total Votes				238,427
Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State

Duties

The main responsibility of the tax commissioner is to collect tax revenue that is required by North Dakota law through the administration of said laws. The specific powers and duties of the commissioner are outlined in Chapter57-01-02 of the North Dakota Century Code.

Campaign finance

Comprehensive donor information for this election has been collected by Follow the Money. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $282,906 during the election. This information was last updated on April 3, 2015.^[20]

Campaign Contribution Totals
Candidate	Office	Result	Contributions
Ryan Rauschenberger	North Dakota Tax Commissioner		$237,565
Jason Astrup	North Dakota Tax Commissioner		$45,341
Anthony Mangnall	North Dakota Tax Commissioner		$0
Grand Total Raised			$282,906

Past elections

2010

North Dakota Tax Commissioner, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Cory Fong Incumbent	67.4%	156,520
	Democratic	Cynthia Kaldor	29.2%	67,856
	Libertarian	Richard Flattum-Riemers	3.3%	7,716
	Write-In	Various	0.1%	160
Total Votes				232,252
Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State

2006

North Dakota Tax Commissioner, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Cory Fong Incumbent	53.1%	112,154
	Democratic	Brent Edison	46.9%	99,243
Total Votes				211,397
Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State

Public Service Commissioner (Two seats)

There were two commission elections in North Dakota on November 4, 2014. There was a regularly scheduled election for one seat, while a second seat was a special election for the remainder of an unexpired term. Julie Fedorchak served on the commission after replacing Kevin Cramer in January 2013, and sought election to the remaining two years of Cramer's term.

Candidates

Regular election

Brian Kalk - Incumbent
Todd Reisenauer^[21]

Special election

Julie Fedorchak - Incumbent
Tyler Axness^[21]

Results

North Dakota Public Service Commissioner, General election, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Brian Kalk Incumbent	64.8%	154,409
	Democratic	Todd Reisenauer	35.1%	83,557
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.2%	370
Total Votes				238,336
Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State

North Dakota Public Service Commissioner, Special election, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Julie Fedorchak Incumbent	66%	156,596
	Democratic	Tyler Axness	33.8%	80,319
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.2%	401
Total Votes				237,316
Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State

Duties

The commission is responsible for regulating public utilities. The board is granted jurisdiction over railroads, telecommunications companies, pipelines, electric, and heating companies; grain elevators and warehouses; weights and measures; public auctioneers and auction clerks; the siting of energy plants and transmission facilities; reclamation of mined lands; and all other public utilities working within the state.^[22] The specific duties of the commissioners are outlined in Chapter49-01 of the North Dakota Century Code:

The commission does NOT have jurisdiction over:

• rural electric cooperatives
• most small telephone companies
• cable television

Campaign finance

Comprehensive donor information for this election has been collected by Follow the Money. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $461,558 during the election. This information was last updated on April 3, 2015.^[23]

Campaign Contribution Totals
Candidate	Office	Result	Contributions
Julie Fedorchak	North Dakota Public Service Commissioner		$200,255
Brian Kalk	North Dakota Public Service Commissioner		$190,901
Tyler Axness	North Dakota Public Service Commissioner		$41,858
Todd Reisenauer	North Dakota Public Service Commissioner		$28,544
Grand Total Raised			$461,558

Past elections

2012

North Dakota Public Service Commission General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Randy Christmann	54.6%	164,591
	Democratic	Brad Crabtree	41.1%	123,978
	Libertarian	Joshua Voytek	4.3%	13,098
Total Votes				301,667
Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State

2010

On November 2, 2010, Kevin Cramer won election to the office of North Dakota Public Service Commission. He defeated Brad Crabtree (D) and Joshua Voytek (L) in the general election.

North Dakota Public Service Commission, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Kevin Cramer Incumbent	61.5%	142,644
	Democratic	Brad Crabtree	34.9%	81,011
	Libertarian	Joshua Voytek	3.6%	8,315
	Write-In	Various	0.1%	144
Total Votes				232,114
Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State.

2008

North Dakota Public Service Commission, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Brian Kalk	53.2%	156,221
	Democratic	Cheryl Bergian	46.8%	137,682
Total Votes				293,903
Election results via North Dakota Secretary of State

Key deadlines

Recent news

Agriculture Commissioner

This section links to a Google news search for the term "North + Dakota + Agriculture + Commissioner + election"

Public Service Commission

This section links to a Google news search for the term "North + Dakota + Public + Service + Commissioner + election"

Tax Commissioner

This section links to a Google news search for the term "North + Dakota + Tax + Commissioner + election"

See also

• North Dakota state executive official elections, 2014
• North Dakota Commissioner of Agriculture
• North Dakota Tax Commissioner
• North Dakota Public Service Commission

External links

• Norht Dakota Department of Agriculture
• North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner
• North Dakota Public Service Commission

Footnotes

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