North Dakota elections, 2012

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.

United States Presidential election in North Dakota, 2012
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.

United States Senate election in North Dakota, 2012
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.

United States Senate election in North Dakota, 2012
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.

North Dakota gubernatorial election, 2012
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.

North Dakota State Auditor election, 2012
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 Ross Mushik.

North Dakota State Treasurer election, 2012
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 Tom Potter.

North Dakota Insurance Commissioner election, 2012
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.

North Dakota Public Service Commissioner election, 2012
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.

North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction election, 2012
Candidate		Votes	Percentage
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.

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