ND Republicans to hold numerous caucuses across state Monday
3 presidential candidates vie for delegates
North Dakota’s State Republican Party is preparing for a sizable turnout of voters at its presidential caucuses to be held at 12 locations across the state Monday.
Four candidates are on the ballot, although Ryan Binkley withdrew after ballots were printed. Candidates remaining in the race are former president Donald Trump, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and Florida businessman David Stuckenberg.
The last Republican presidential primary in 2016 drew about 11,000 Republicans. Robert Harms, who chairs the state’s caucus committee, said he hopes for 10,000 or more voters on Monday.
“I’m kind of expecting a vigorous turnout. I know there’s this national view that the race is over, but I’ve been doing politics for 40 years, and as you know, anything can happen,” Harms said. “I think it’s important for people to express their point of view as to who North Dakota thinks will be the best nominee for the Republican Party for president. Not who the media presumes to be the nominee, but who does the North Dakota public think will be the best nominee for our country.”
North Dakota’s caucus comes on the eve of what is known as Super Tuesday, when 15 states and American Samoa will be voting. More than a third of total convention delegate votes will be decided that day.
“If something unusual happens in North Dakota, it could influence what happens the next day, so it’ll be interesting,” Harms said.
Minot’s caucus will be held Monday from 5-8 p.m. in Room 201 in the Minot Municipal Auditorium. Williston’s caucus will be in the Grand Williston Hotel and Devils Lake will hold a caucus in the Devils Lake Armory. The Carrington caucus will be in the community library.
Other cities where caucuses will be held are Bismarck, Dickinson, Grand Forks, Fargo, Valley City, Jamestown, Wahpeton and Cavalier. Hours are 5-8 p.m. across the state, or 4-7 p.m. Mountain Time.
Voters must either be members of the state Republican Party or sign a pledge indicating a desire to affiliate with the party, Harms said. State party membership is separate from district party membership. People can pay state dues or sign the pledge at the caucus, although Harms noted the process will go more quickly if people already have membership documentation they can bring. People can contact the state office for membership information.
An identification card with name, residence and birth date also will be required to vote. If an address isn’t current, a person can supplement with a current utility bill, bank statement, check or document issued by a government entity or paycheck. Higher education students can supplement with a document from the education institution that includes a letterhead or seal and student photo identification card.
The caucuses will include live, remote presentations by the candidate campaigns. Gov. Doug Burgum will speak for Trump at 5:45 p.m., followed by presentations by Stuckenberg at 6 p.m. and Haley at 6:15 p.m.
Once polls close, votes will be tallied at each of the caucus sites and forwarded to party headquarters, which expects to release results, possibly as early as 9 p.m. depending on turnout, Harms said.
North Dakota will send 29 delegates to the national convention. According to party information, they will be bound on the first convention vote by the percentage of votes each candidate receives in the caucus. A candidate must get at least 20% of the vote to earn a delegate, and a candidate who gets 60% of the vote gets all the North Dakota delegate votes.
