The General Election brings quite a bit of turnover across our counties, especially in Commissioner races. But before we get into the county races, let’s look at the county measures.

There was a lack of support across the state to support county measures. There were 12 measures on the ballot in 10 counties. Only 2 of the 12 passed. A majority of the measures were asking citizens to support a tax increase by increasing levies. All but one of those requests failed. That includes two requests to exceed the 3% budget limitation as set by the 2025 Legislature. Divide County and Traill County both had measures to exceed the cap on the ballot. The Divide County measure failed with just 46% support and Traill County received only 38% of the yes votes. This is the first attempt by counties to exceed the 3% budget cap since the law went into effect.

Eight other measures that failed sought to increase levies for roads (LaMoure), NDSU Extension (Dickey, Foster, Hettinger, Sioux), Veterans Services (Traill) and Historical Society (McIntosh). Dickey County was successful in passing a measure to authorize an additional mill levy for Senior Citizen Services.

Here is a summary of the County Elected races:

Commissioners:

• 48 new commissioners elected (2 former legislators)
• 19 incumbents defeated in General

Auditors & Treasurers:

• Contested races in 9 counties, no incumbents defeated
• 6 new Auditors or Auditor/Treasurers and 3 new Treasurers; all replacing retired or officials not seeking re-election

Sheriffs:

• Contested races in 22 Counties (Hettinger County Sheriff race – 3 vote difference)
• 2 Incumbents defeated
• 10 new Sheriffs elected

State’s Attorneys:

• Contested races in 4 counties, no incumbents defeated

Recorders & Clerk of Court:

• Contested races in 3 counties for Recorder, 2 incumbents defeated
• 5 new Recorders & 1 new Clerk of Court

Click here to view our county by county list categorized by races.

ND Legislative Races Summary

• Elections in 24 Legislative Districts (odd number) plus Special Elections in 3 Districts to replace vacated positions.
• 26 newly elected in House of Representatives
• 5 newly elected in Senate
• 2 incumbents were defeated in the General Election, and 6 incumbents were defeated in the Primary
• 3 Legislators who served in past session move chambers from the House to the Senate
• 2 former lawmakers return: Roger Brabrandt (House) & Mary Adams (Senate)
• Party split in both chambers remains fairly similar with strong Republican control however, Democrats picked up seats in Fargo and Grand Forks
• Richland County Commissioner Terry Goerger was elected in District 25
• Legislators take office December 1^st
• Legislative term limits will term out lawmakers starting in 2028; legislators are limited to serve 8 years in each the House and Senate

Click here to view our legislative election tracking

Special thank you to all the county Auditors and their staff for running ND elections!