Live Blog: North Dakota Primary Election 2026

The Secretary of State's office says 20.84 percent of eligible North Dakotans cast their ballots in the primary.

That means 125,101 voters turned out. Of those, 17,287 were early voters, 34,338 voted absentee and 73,476 went to the polls on primary election day.

A number of sitting Legislators lost races in the primary.

Minot Rep. Jeff Hoverson, Calvin Rep. Donna Henderson, Hazen Rep. Bill Tveit, Grand Forks Rep. Eric Murphy, Grand Forks and Sarles Sen. Kent Weston all lost. All are Republicans.

In addition, former state Representatives Rick Becker (R-Bismarck) and Jim Schmidt (R-Huff) failed in their bids to regain their House seats.

Primary voters have chosen Levi Bachmeier and Tracy Lane Foss to square off for Superintendent of Public Instruction.
That is a no-party office.
Bachmeier is the current Superintendent, having been appointed by Governor Armstrong after Kirsten Baesler left to take a position in the federal Department of Education. Foss is a Grand Forks teacher.
Bachmeier received 56 percent of the vote, while Foss received 30 percent.
A third candidate, Charles Tuttle, was chosen by 14 percent of voters.

Primary voters have approved a state Constitutional change to limit future Constitutional amendments to a single subject.

This includes Legislative proposals and initiated Constitutional measures.

More than 66 percent of primary voters agreed with the change.

The Associated Press has called the race for mayor of Fargo for Josh Boschee.

With just over 70 percent of the votes tallied, Boschee currently has 47.5 percent.

Michelle Turnberg is currently in second place, with 27.5 percent, followed by Denise Kolpack at 14.9 percent. Dave Piepkorn received 8.1 percent. Sekou Sirleaf received 1.9 percent.

17,440 votes and holding.
Things have not changed much in the count in the Fargo Mayor's Race.
Josh Boschee still has a 1,500 vote lead over Commissioner Michelle Turnberg. The question now is, how long before the next update?

Former Cass County Commissioner Chad Peterson has the lead in early counting for a seat on the Fargo City Commission. He's followed closely by former City Commissioner Tony Gehrig.
The tabulation updates have slowed in the reporting of Fargo numbers. All 23 precincts have reported, though none have been called final.
We will be watching for the top 2 candidates to fill openings on the Commission.

With 6,104 votes counted, it seems Fargo voters approve of a one-cent sales tax to benefit City infrastructure projects.
The sales tax is set to sunset unless voters approve the extension.

One legislative contest I've been watching has been happening in the district I grew up in, District 15.

The district is currently represented by Republican Senator Kent Weston, and Republican Representatives Kathy Frelich and Donna Henderson.

Republican Kristin Kenner ran in this primary to challenge Weston for the seat in the Senate. Her husband Corry Kenner joined her to run in the primary for a seat in the North Dakota House of Representatives.

With all nine precincts reporting, it looks like the Kenners are running in November.

Kristin Kenner received 41 more votes than incumbent Kent Weston, receiving 39 and 38 percent of the votes, respectively. Republican Judy Estenson received just under 22 percent.

Incumbent Representative Kathy Frelich received just over 39 percent of the votes. Corry Kenner received just under 34 percent, with incumbent Donna Henderson finishing third with 27 percent.

Jill Kringstad leads Chris Olson for the Republican endorsement for the unexpired two year term on the Public Service Commission.

Kringstad was appointed to fill the position held by Julie Fedorchak, who was elected to Congress in 2024. Chris Olson challenged her for the seat. Neither candidate was endorsed at the stte GOP convention in Minot.

The winner will face Democratic NPL candidate John Pederson.

On this ballot, North Dakota voters are being asked if they want to limit constitutional amendments to a single subject.

If approved, North Dakota would become the 17th state to have such a requirement.

Voters rejected a similar single subject rule amendment in 2024. It would have applied to both statutory and constitutional initiatives, and increased signature requirements for initiated constitutional amendments. It also would have required to pass constitutional amendments twice in two consecutive general elections.

This measure has a more narrow requirement and only applies to single subject rule to constitutional amendments.

As of this posting, the yes votes are leading with just over 66 percent of the votes. 118 out of 358 precincts are fully reporting.

Incumbent Bismarck Mayor Mike Schmitz leads challenger Steve Marquart by a margin of 53 percent to 47 percent.

According to the Secretary of State's office:

Josh Boschee
40.22%
72 Votes

Michelle Turnberg
37.99%
68 Votes

Denise Kolpack
12.29%
22 Votes

David Piepkorn
8.38%
15 Votes

Sekou Sirleaf
1.12%
2 Votes

Incumbent Sheri Haugen-Hoffart has been declared the winner in the race for the GOP nod for the six year term on the state's Public Service Commission. She was being challenged by Deven Styczynski, who was endorsed at the GOP convention in Minot. Haugen-Hoffart has served on the Commission since Feb. 11, 2022. She was appointed to the PSC by then-Governor Doug Burgum, to replace Brian Kroshus, who had been appointed as the state Tax Commission by Burgum.

With 1,018 votes counted, Mark Jantzer has taken an early lead over challenger Josiah Roise for the office of Mayor. 4 of 4 Precincts have reported. 0 of 4 are fully counted.

Incumbent Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak (R-ND) has declared victory in the GOP primary for that seat. She defeated challenger Alex Balasz, in a rematch from two years ago. Balasz won the endorsement at the GOP Convention in Minot. Fedorchak did not attend the convention.
Two years ago. she sought the nomination at the state convention in Fargo. But she withdrew, saying she would go to the primary, where she won the endorsement, and eventually defeated the Democratic candidate, Trygve Hammer. This sets up a rematch, as Hammer won the Democratic NPL endorsement this year, and was unopposed in the primary.

While the Secretary of State's office is reporting 12,899 votes counted, the Congresswoman's office has issued a statement saying Fedorchak has defeated her challenger.

From the release:
"Bismarck, ND - Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak today won the North Dakota Republican primary election, confirming her as the nominee for this November’s election."

Early numbers are starting to come in on this Primary night. North Dakota is one of four States with elections today.
With 18 of 358 precincts reported, the Secretary of State's office is showing incumbent Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak leading her challenger Alex Balazs 73% to 26%.
Stay posted, we have a lot of counting ahead of us.

This is a test... of the Prairie Public live blog, Primary Election 2026 edition.

We are standing by to bring you results of this evening's races and contests!