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Hennen: President Doug Burgum? A Forbes writer says it could happen

If North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum decides to run for president, "he'll be a long, long shot but he's used to that," columnist Scott Hennen writes.

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North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum meets Wednesday, May 10, 2023, with The Forum editorial board, Fargo. He is accompanied by Chief of Staff Jace Beehler, left, and Office of Management and Budget Director Joe Morrissette.
Michael Vosburg/The Forum

Former President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott, former Gov. Asa Hutchinson and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are the declared candidates, so far, for the Republican nomination for president in 2024. There will be more.

We recently learned that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is considering a presidential campaign as well. Could he compete in that esteemed group? Rich Karlgaard of Forbes magazine says Burgum would not only compete but he could win. "Could North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum pull off the political upset of the century? It’s very possible" says Karlgaard. He gushes over Burgum in a nearly 2,000 word endorsement of his candidacy in a May 17 article.

"When Burgum was an out-of-left-field candidate for governor in 2016 he got fawning media coverage from a friend in the national media. Now that friend is writing about his potential presidential run."

Karlgaard did some research on every current U.S. senator, congressman, mayor, governor and presidential candidate to find the ones with the most successful business careers. His conclusion is that Burgum is America's most successful entrepreneurial present-day office holder. "There is no one in the higher reaches of American politics more accomplished in the private sector than he," Karlgaard writes.

Burgum grew up in tiny Arthur, North Dakota and graduated from NDSU and Stanford. Most North Dakotan's are familiar with the Great Plains Software story that had Burgum starting his business career from scratch. He literally bet the family farm to invest $250,000 to get the fledgling software company off the ground. Later as CEO, with the help of investors, he grew the company to 2,000 employees. Great Plains went public in 1997 and later was acquired by Microsoft for $1.1 billion. The North Dakota-made products of Great Plains software are now known as Microsoft Dynamics.

Karlgaard, a Bismarck native, chronicles other successful investments that have padded Burgum's net worth. He was an early investor in SuccessFactors which sold for $3.4 billion in 2012. He was the chairman of Atlassian, a cloud software company, which currently has a market cap of $35 billion.

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With Burgum now in a second term, it's easy to forget how his political career started. He was a long shot for governor. After Jack Dalrymple announced his decision to not seek re-election, an internal poll showed Burgum losing to Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem 69-10. The Republican party machine was firmly in Stenehjem's camp, so Burgum opted to run in the primary and won. Now he has a six-year political record to run on as well.

Karlgaard sums up his argument, writing:

"I believe if Doug Burgum ran for president, he could pull the upset of the century and win in 2024. As the recent chairman of the bipartisan Western Governors Association, he is the perfect candidate to win back Arizona and Nevada, possibly even New Mexico and Colorado. I like Burgum’s chances in energy rich but economically shackled Pennsylvania, too. Those states comprise a winning electoral hand." "The bigger question is whether Burgum can find a lane in the 2024 Republican primary."

A Burgum candidacy would be great for North Dakota. I'd bet he'll run. He'll be a long, long shot but he's used to that. Bully!

Scott Hennen hosts the statewide radio program “What’s On Your Mind?” On AM 1100 “The Flag”, AM 1090 KTGO “The Flag” and AM 1460 KLTC. Email him at ScottH@FlagFamily.com

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Forum's editorial board nor Forum ownership.

Opinion by Scott Hennen
Scott Hennen hosts the statewide radio program “What’s On Your Mind?” heard on AM 1100 “The Flag" in Fargo and on AM 1090 KTGO “The Flag” in Watford City/Williston. Email him at ScottH@FlagFamily.com.

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