The 2004 North Dakota gubernatorial election took place on 2 November 2004 for the post of Governor of North Dakota

Governor of North Dakota

The Governor of North Dakota is the chief executive of North Dakota. The current Governor is Jack Dalrymple. The Governor has the right to sign and laws, and to call the Legislative Assembly, into emergency session. The Governor is also chairman of the North Dakota Industrial Commission. The...

. Incumbent

Incumbent

The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...

 Republican Governor John Hoeven

John Hoeven

John Henry Hoeven III is the junior United States Senator from North Dakota. He is a member of the North Dakota Republican Party. He is expected to become the state's senior senator when Kent Conrad retires from the Senate in January 2013.Hoeven served as the 31st Governor of North Dakota,...

 was easily re-elected defeating Democratic former state senator

State Senator

A state senator is a member of a state's Senate, the upper house in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a legislator in Nebraska's one house State Legislature.There are typically fewer state senators than there are members of a state's lower house...

 Joe Satrom

Joe Satrom

Joe Satrom is a businessman and environmental lobbyist from the U.S. state of North Dakota. He won the 2004 Democratic-NPL nomination for Governor, but was defeated by the Republican incumbent, John Hoeven....

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Republican nomination

Incumbent Governor John Hoeven was unopposed for the Republican nomination and accepted the nomination by stating that the economy of North Dakota was his priority.

Democratic nomination

Former state senator Joe Satrom defeated North Dakota House of Representatives

North Dakota House of Representatives

The North Dakota House of Representatives is the lower house of the North Dakota Legislative Assembly and is larger than the North Dakota Senate....

 minority leader

Minority leader

In U.S. politics, the minority leader is the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative body. Given the two-party nature of the U.S. system, the minority leader is almost inevitably either a Republican or a Democrat, with their counterpart being of the opposite party. The position...

 Merle Boucher

Merle Boucher

Merle Boucher is a North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party politician who served in the North Dakota House of Representatives, representing the 9th district from 1991 to 2011...

 for the Democratic nomination. Satrom began campaigning for the nomination almost a year before the North Dakota

North Dakota

North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

 Democratic Convention would choose the parties candidate for Governor. Boucher announced his candidature in December 2003 but struggled to make up ground against Satrom.

The two candidates debated at the University of North Dakota

University of North Dakota

The University of North Dakota is a public university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA. Established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of North Dakota, UND is the oldest and largest university in the state and enrolls over 14,000 students. ...

, just before the convention, with education and the future of the state's youth the main topics. The Democratic Convention voted by 632 to 341 to endorse Satrom as Democratic candidate for Governor.

Campaign

The two candidates met in three debates during the campaign, during the final debate on 9 October 2004 they clashed over a smoking ban

Smoking ban

Smoking bans are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, which prohibit tobacco smoking in workplaces and/or other public spaces...

, outmigration and a proposed constitutional amendment

Federal Marriage Amendment

The Federal Marriage Amendment H.J. Res. 56 was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution which would have limited marriage in the United States to unions of one man and one woman...

 to ban same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....

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Satrom called for North Dakota to introduce a one thousand dollar

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

 donation

Fundraising

Fundraising or fund raising is the process of soliciting and gathering voluntary contributions as money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies...

 limit, for individuals and political action committees, to avoid any perception of conflict of interest

Conflict of interest

A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....

. Hoeven named education, growth and jobs as his priorities but faced anger from some hunting groups over changes to hunt seasons

Hunting

Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...

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Opinion poll

Opinion poll

An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...

s gave Hoeven a strong lead over Satrom with one in October 2004 showing Hoeven on 70% as against 22% for Satrom. Hoeven raised far more money than his challenger and even a normally Democratic supporting teacher

Teacher

A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...

s union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

, the North Dakota education association, endorsed Hoeven for Governor.

Election results