The 2024 Republican Party field is about to increase by three next week. We have Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum. Yeah, I doubt anyone who isn’t deep in the weeds knows who Mr. Burgum is, but the wealthy former tech executive is term-limited, so he needs something to do. Burgum sailed through both his gubernatorial elections, where his margins of victory were so great that he arguably ran unopposed. He’s low-key, eschews the inflammatory rhetoric that’s taken hold in the political landscape, which is where his camp says he’ll try to make his play with the radical center. Yet, his policies are anything but centrist (via WSJ):
IOWA POLL
— Emerson College Polling (@EmersonPolling) May 25, 2023
2024 Republican Presidential Caucus @realDonaldTrump 62% @RonDeSantis 20%@NikkiHaley 5%@Mike_Pence 5%@SenatorTimScott 3% @VivekGRamaswamy 2%@ChrisSununu 1%@AsaHutchinson 1%@DougBurgum 0.4%
Someone else 2%https://t.co/EWstyYZ1q8 pic.twitter.com/wlabB7eZUQ
So next week will see at least three GOP 2024 announcements: Pence, Chris Christie, and ND Gov. @DougBurgum https://t.co/Hp1nrD3BPe
— Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) May 31, 2023
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is set to join the growing field of Republicans seeking the party’s 2024 presidential nomination.
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 26, 2023
Burgum, a wealthy software entrepreneur, is in his second term as North Dakota governor. https://t.co/w9xmz2m7RN
“All the engagement right now is occurring on the edge,” he said. “There’s definitely a yearning for some alternatives right now.”
First elected in 2016, Burgum isn’t well known nationally and would face a challenge building name recognition in a field with much better-known candidates.
But he could use his fortune to help boost his prospects. Two people familiar with his planning, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations, said he has always invested in his companies and campaigns and would do the same if he runs.
They also said he has already filmed television ads for a potential bid and that Fargo was picked for the announcement because it is close to his tiny hometown of Arthur and would underscore small-town and economic themes he would emphasize in a campaign.
Fargo is where Burgum built Great Plains Software from a small startup into a company acquired by Microsoft for $1.1 billion in 2001. Great Plains, which developed software for small-business tasks and had 1,200 local employees, served as the basis for Microsoft’s move in subsequent years into business-focused software beyond its Office productivity suite.
[…]
In April, Burgum signed into law a near-total ban on abortion that permits the procedure in cases of rape and incest only in the first six weeks of pregnancy. The law also makes an exception in the case of a serious physical health risk to a mother.
He also signed legislation this year that prohibits public schools and government entities from requiring teachers and employees to refer to transgender people by the pronouns they use. The law also requires teachers to tell a parent or legal guardian if the student identifies as transgender, and prohibits transgender students from using the bathroom of their choice without prior approval from a parent or guardian.
He won his 2016 and 2020 elections with 76 and 65 percent of the vote, respectively. He’s a Republican from North Dakota—you’d hope he garners that much of the vote. Burgum has zero name recognition and no national constituency. No one knows who he is, and the remarkable thing about this pending candidacy is that he could be one of the few, if not the only, Republicans who fail to make it onto the debates with the proposed RNC rules, which allows any candidate on the big stage if they reach one percent in the polls, with 40,000 donors. Burgum could cut a check to himself that would equate to what 40,000 people would donate on average, but that’s the obstacle: I don’t see 40,000 people giving money to someone no one knows about. But he might not be alone: Chris Christie might keep him company.
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UPDATE: RNC has new rules (via Politico):
The Republican National Committee says it will consider adding a second night to the first GOP presidential primary debate this August in Milwaukee, according to new qualifying standards announced Friday.
The first debate will be Aug. 23 on Fox News Channel, with a possible second date of Aug. 24 if enough candidates meet polling and fundraising criteria — and also commit to supporting the eventual Republican nominee and pledge that they will not participate in any outside debates.
Candidates will have to garner donations from at least 40,000 national contributors and poll consistently above 1 percent in three national polls or two national polls and a state poll, according to the RNC’s announcement. Candidates must secure donations “with at least 200 unique donors per state or territory in 20+ states and/or territories.”
The candidates will have until Aug. 21 — 48 hours before the debate — to meet the criteria. Polls conducted prior to July 1 won’t count toward qualification.
The new standards appear designed to prevent the free-for-all, circus-like debates that occurred in the 2016 Republican primaries. Though it’s too soon to know which candidates will clear the thresholds, the criteria are likely to be difficult for at least some hopefuls to clear.