Republican hopeful Burgum is accustomed to long odds
ND governor is slated to speak at NH event
EXETER, N.H. — Doug Burgum is among the least known of the many long-shot candidates vying to be the Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential race. The North Dakota governor is stuck in the primary’s basement, where he typically polls at 1%.
But Burgum’s campaign maintains that he has a window once actual voters, not TV viewers, plug into the race.
Like other Republican hopefuls, the North Dakota governor is joining a series of town halls in Exeter, New Hampshire, hosted by Seacoastonline and the USA TODAY Network to speak directly with those Americans at 10 a.m. Friday. Here are five things to know about Doug Burgum ahead of the event.
Doug Burgum has been a major underdog before
Polling shows that most Americans don’t know who Burgum is, and those who do hold a slightly more unfavorable view of him.
But when Burgum, 66, first entered politics as a gubernatorial contender in 2016, he was a long shot whom most people hadn’t heard of before.
But when it came time for the voters to decide, he won that election by 20%, largely running as an outsider in the year that Trump first captured the Republican nomination for president.
Software entrepreneur is largely self-funded
Born in Arthur, North Dakota, a small town northwest of Fargo, Burgum attended Stanford University, where he earned a master’s degree in business administration.
In the 1980s, he and his relatives bought Great Plains Software, a software company that eventually was purchased by Microsoft for $1.1 billion in 1997. Most of Burgum’s fundraising comes from his own pocket. He has loaned his campaign more than $10 million.
Energy, carbon neutrality is his favorite subject
One of the reasons Burgum hasn’t broken away from the pack is how little oxygen is given to this favorite subject: energy.
In a sober delivery style that stays away from culture war or social issues, he has tried to shake the public consciousness about energy’s role in America’s domestic and foreign policy. The U.S. should be committed to alternative fuels, he said, such as ethanol and carbon pipelines.
Burgum warns of Cold War with China
Besides energy, foreign policy is a space where Burgum has a wider vision, and he’s criticized President Joe Biden’s approach to countering America’s competition around the world, particularly China.
China being America’s chief rival in the 21st century is one of his biggest concerns.
He has been stark in saying the U.S. is engaged in a cold war with Beijing that must be won economically and through democratic values rather than military might.
Culture war, social issues aren’t taking center stage
North Dakota passed one of the nation’s strictest abortion bans that blocks the procedure at all stages of pregnancy, with exceptions for rape, incest and medical emergencies.
The question being posed to many White House hopefuls on the GOP side is whether they support Congress establishing a federal ban on abortion, which some conservative voters have been demanding in recent months.
Burgum told USA TODAY he would not support such a move, however.