As anticipated, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgrum (R) officially announced Wednesday that he’s running for President in 2024.
“Today, America’s facing new challenges, and how we respond will define our future. We need a new leader for our changing economy,” Burgrum tweeted Wednesday. Noting that he had “cut red tape, balanced the budget, and passed the largest tax cuts in state history,” he added, “Anger, yelling, infighting—that’s not going to cut it anymore. Let’s get things done, together.”
In a video accompanying the tweet, the former software engineer who has enacted a series of laws this year to advance conservative policies on culture war issues, said, “‘Woke’ was what you did at 5am to start the day” in the “tiny town” where he grew up.
Burgrum joins an already large field of Republicans looking to unseat President Biden, including former President Trump, who announced he’s running for reelection back in November.
Other GOP contenders include former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who announced his candidacy Tuesday night, former Vice President Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
Including several business people and media personalities from outside the traditional political realm, at least 11 Republicans have so far joined the race for the GOP nomination as of this week.
A CNN poll last month found Burgrum at 1% nationally.
However, the election handicapper FiveThirtyEight.com asserts that the North Dakota governor could be the “surprise” candidate in the 2024 Republican primaries thanks to his “deep pockets”—though a Morning Consult poll found that only 23% of Republicans knew enough about him to form an opinion of him.
