Election 2024: Republicans sweep statewide races

CARRINGTON, N.D. – November 6, 2024

Tuesday, Nov. 5 was decision day in America, and the unofficial results from the 2024 general election are in.

Here in Foster County, nearly 65% of eligible voters cast ballots, a total of 1,717, making their decisions known on several important races.

The only Foster County-specific races in this year's general election were four uncontested contests, three for seats on the county commission and one for the director who represents the county on the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District board.

Unofficial results from the N.D. Secretary of State's website show Patrick Copenhaver receiving 98.45% of the vote, while fellow incumbents David Utke and Becky Hagel received 98.80% and 96.81%, respectively.

Steve Metzger was re-elected to another term on the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District board for Foster County with 98.84% of the vote.

Meanwhile, Republican candidates swept North Dakota's statewide races.

Republican Kevin Cramer defeated Democratic-NPL candidate Katrina Christiansen with a healthy 66.29% of the overall vote to retain his U.S. Senate seat, while Republican Julie Fedorchak defeated Trygve Hammer with an even more commanding 69.22% of the vote.

Republican Kelly Armstrong will be the next governor of North Dakota, having received 68.22% of the vote alongside his running mate for Lt. Gov., Michelle Strinden.

Perhaps the most contested and closely watched races in the state, however, were for a number of potentially impactful ballot measures.

No measure was likely to be more consequential than Measure 4 had it passed, as it would have eliminated valuation-based property taxes in North Dakota. However, voters in the state rejected the measure by a healthy margin. In the end, 63.47% of voters said "no" to the measure, while just 36.53% of voters said "yes," according to unofficial results.

Measure 5, which would have legalized recreational marijuana in the state, was also closely watched. The measure was ultimately defeated, but only narrowly. Approximately 52.55% of voters said "no" to legalizing marijuana, while 47.45% of voters said "yes."

Meanwhile, Measure 2 – which would have made it more difficult to pass ballot initiatives in the future by requiring majority votes in two separate elections – was also defeated, as 56.43% of voters said "no," while just 43.57% of voters said "yes."

Measure 3, which limits spending to no more than 5% of the state's Legacy Fund principal balance in any biennium, passed narrowly with 51.98% approval. Measure 1, which makes several changes to terminology used to describe public institutions that serve individuals with disabilities, was the least controversial. Nearly 85% of voters approved of the changes.

With a decisive shift to the right, Americans chose to return former President Donald Trump to the White House for a second term. National media called the race for Trump around 4:30 a.m. local time after he was on track to win the Electoral College vote by prevailing in the key battleground states of Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Two-thirds of North Dakotans cast ballots for Trump and his running mate, JD Vance of Ohio, in Tuesday's election.

Below are the statewide unofficial results from Foster County:

U.S. Senate:

(R) Kevin Cramer 1,276 (75.64%); (D-NPL) Katrina Christiansen 408 (24.18%)

U.S. House of Representatives:

(D-NPL) Trygve Hammer 337 (20.04%); (R) Julie Fedorchak 1,341 (79.73%)

N.D. Governor:

(R) Kelly Armstrong 1,327 (78.57%); (D-NPL) Merrill Piepkorn 291 (17.23%); (I) Michael Coachman 71 (4.20%)

State Auditor

(R) Joshua C. Gallion 1,287 (78.33%); (D-NPL) Timothy Lamb 353 (21.49%)

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Kirsten Baesler 1,033 (65.67%); Jason Heitkamp 537 (34.14%)

Constitutional Measure No. 1, related to terminology describing public institutions

Yes 1,371 (82.54%); No 290 (14.46%)

Constitutional Measure No. 2, related to constitutional amendments

Yes 695 (42.87%); No 926 (57.13%)

Constitutional Measure No. 3, related to spending and transfers from the Legacy Fund

Yes 772 (48.46%); No 821 (51.54%)

Initiated Constitutional Measure No. 4, related to property taxes

Yes 445 (26.47%); No 1,236 (73.53%)

Initiated Statutory Measure No. 5, related to legalization of cannabis

Yes 577 (33.92%); No 765 (66.08%)

For more unofficial results from this year's general election, go to the N.D. Secretary of State's website at http://www.sos.nd.gov.

The official results will be published in this newspaper after the county canvassing board meets on Nov. 18 and then certifies the results with the state canvassing board on Nov. 20.