Former President Donald Trump should nix North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum from his vice president short list for several reasons.
The first and most obvious is that he would add very little to the ticket electorally. North Dakota is a solid red state with three Electoral College votes.
While Burgum — a former software company executive who is currently serving his second term as governor — raised his profile slightly during his presidential bid, it certainly wasn’t enough to influence more voters to cast their ballots for Trump.
Burgum’s candidacy never took hold, and he ended up dropping out of the race in December before any primaries. Further, he did not have enough support to qualify for the third presidential debate.
The requirement was four percent in two national polls, or four percent in one national poll and four percent in one early state, but Burgum hovered around 1 percent.
Burgum announced in January that also will not be seeking a third term as governor this year, sparking speculation that he may angling for a position in a Trump administration should the 45th president return to the White House.
Multiple media outlets have him on their short list for VP, along with others such as Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, among others.
All of these other choices have one thing in common: They could add to Trump’s support, whether among women, African Americans or Latinos, but not Burgum.
His conservative/America First credentials are mixed, as well.
Would Burgum be a good VP pick for Trump?
Social conservatives will appreciate that in 2023, he signed into law a six-week abortion ban and legislation banning men from competing in women’s sports. Further, he signed off on a bill requiring bathrooms and locker rooms be designated based on one’s actual sex, not gender identity.
What social conservatives won’t like were some of his earlier decisions. For example, in 2021 he vetoed a ban on transgender athletes competing in women’s sports, saying it really had not been an issue in North Dakota.
For the record, Noem did more or less the same thing in 2021 with a partial veto, but did issue executive orders regarding K-12 sports after receiving blowback from conservative lawmakers, the Associated Press reported. Noem then came around the next year and approved a full ban to include college sports.
Burgum was also back-and-forth on the issue of gender pronouns.
In 2023, he vetoed legislation that would have required teachers to use students’ biological pronouns, rather than their gender identity ones, unless the student’s parents and a school administrator agreed to the use of the latter.
Burgum said that teachers’ jobs are challenging enough without them having to be “pronoun police.”
But later in 2023, the governor signed legislation allowing teachers and state government employees to ignore students’ preferred gender identity pronouns and requiring “teachers to tell parents or legal guardians if students identify as transgender,” NBC News reported.
In 2020, Burgum came out strongly against a North Dakota Republican Party resolution that declared “LGBT practices are unhealthy and dangerous.” He called the resolution “hurtful and divisive.”
“As I’ve long said, all North Dakotans deserve to be treated equally and live free of discrimination,” Burgum said at the time.
We can respect one another’s freedoms without disrespecting or discriminating against the LGBT members of our state and our party, whom we support. 2/2
— Gov. Doug Burgum (@GovDougBurgum) July 23, 2020
Overall on social issues, he explained last summer, shortly after announcing his presidential bid, that he didn’t want to engage on “every culture war topic,” but instead wanted to focus on the U.S. economy, energy policy and national security, CNBC reported.
Further, the governor espoused his support for school choice, but he vetoed legislation last year that would have helped families send their children to private school, saying it didn’t go far enough.
Surprisingly, given North Dakota is a major oil producer, in 2021 he called for the state to be carbon neutral by 2030.
“But unlike climate goals touted by the White House, Burgum’s vision of carbon neutrality does not involve a transition away from oil, natural gas or coal production — all large industries in North Dakota,” according to The Dickinson Press.
“Instead, Burgum laid out lofty ambitions to clean up the state’s fossil fuel and agricultural sectors by capturing, storing and repurposing their carbon output.”
Concerning national security, the governor didn’t appear to share Trump’s concerns about the threat communist China poses.
In 2022, Burgum supported a Chinese food manufacturing company purchasing 300 acres of North Dakota farmland to build a grain mill just 20 minutes from Grand Forks Air Force Base.
The governor described the proposed mill as a “huge opportunity” for all of North Dakota, according to The New York Times.
However, CNBC reported the Air Force base is “home to some of the nation’s most sensitive military drone technology.”
It also houses a space networking center, which a North Dakota senator said handles “the backbone of all U.S. military communications across the globe.”
The Air Force studied the matter and concluded that the purchase posed “a significant threat to national security.”
Following the release of the assessment, Burgum came out in opposition to the mill, and the city of Grand Forks officially terminated the deal last April.
One final reason to oppose Burgum as a running mate occurred last summer, when he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he would not do business with Trump.
When asked by then-host Chuck Todd why, Burgum responded, “I just think that it’s important that you’re judged by the company you keep.”
So he was saying that he did not want to be associated with Trump. He has since appeared at campaign events and endorsed the 45th president, so his view has obviously changed.
If he were to be chosen as Trump’s running mate, Democrats would surely have a heyday with ads regarding Burgum’s earlier pronouncement: “So you don’t want to be associated with him in business, but serving as vice president is okay?”
Maybe there is a position for Burgum in a Trump administration, perhaps Energy Secretary.
But as for the No. 2 position, Trump can do much better.
UPDATE: An earlier version of this article did not mention that Gov. Kristi Noem had signed executive orders in 2021 requiring sports participation be based on biological sex.
