The Republican nominee for Governor will be decided in the June Primary.
And the race between Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem – who won the GOP convention endorsement – and Fargo businessman Doug Burgum is spirited – and, some believe, nasty.
It echoes back to another race for a party nomination – the 1992 Democratic face off.
The race between Bill Heigaard and Nick Spaeth was also vigorous – and, at times, nasty.
Spaeth won – but subsequently lost the race to Republican Ed Schafer.
“That caused a split in the Democratic NPL Party that I don’t believe has ever completely healed,” said long time Democratic Party activist and former party executive director Jim Fugle. He says at the time, Democrats were riding high.
“They held most of the executive agencies, the Governor’s office, and had a majority in the state Senate, much like the Republicans have in 2016,” Fuglie said.
Fuglie says after Spaeth won the nomination, he ran a terrible general election campaign, and that exacerbated the resentment.
"And I think the resentment would not have been so deep, had Spaeth run a good campaign, and he had beaten Ed Schafer," Fuglie said. "The party would have rallied behind him.”
Fuglie says that’s what the Republicans did in 2012 – when Kevin Cramer won the GOP primary for Congress over Brian Kalk – and subsequently won in the general.
“Parties tend to do that," Fuglie said.
“You know, I look at that campaign and smile a lot, because I see reflections of both sides in the campaign that I went through,” said former Republican Governor Ed Schafer. In 1992, he was the “outsider,” fighting for the nomination at the GOP Convention. He won – but he had work to do.
“Even after that tough-fought battle in the Democratic primary, Ed Schafer was 22 percentage points in the hole, against the sitting Attorney General,” Schafer said.
Fuglie says Schafer ran a very good campaign.
“He was full of enthusiasm," Fuglie said. "He worked hard. He was everywhere. And Nick Spaeth kind of took the election for granted, and didn’t get out and do the kinds of things that needed to be done.”
Schafer says both Doug Burgum and Wayne Stenehjem are working hard for this year’s nomination.
“They’re spending a lot of money," Schafer said. They’re trying to win the hearts and minds of people. It’s a different situation today than it was then. But nobody’s going to take it for granted any more.”
