Snag these new Insider Deals before they are goneFILE - North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum speaks to reporters in the spin room after a presidential debate between President Joe Biden and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump in Atlanta, June 27, 2024. was laser-focused on priorities like strengthening the state's economy and cutting taxes. He mostly steered clear of social issues that animated many fellow Republicans, and he sometimes pushed back on them.
"I talk to real people, creating real jobs, building real companies and hiring people, and some of the things the Legislature is focused on is not what the citizens are focused on," Burgum is a policy wonk who can speak at length about subjects important to him — his recent State of the State address was two hours long — such as advancing carbon capture or reducing regulations. Sometimes he visibly chokes up when discussing serious topics, such as his wife Kathryn’s recovery from addiction.
Today, North Dakota’s finances are in healthy shape. The 2020 census found the state as one of the fastest-growing. North Dakota was tied with South Dakota for the lowest unemployment rate in the U.S., at 2% in May. That law and the ban on gender-affirming care for kids are both the subject of ongoing lawsuits. Burgum has not been outspoken on abortion or transgender issues.After the state GOP's anti-LGBTQ resolution gained attention in 2020, Burgum telephoned the state's first openly gay lawmaker, then the House minority leader, to say he disagreed with it.