North Dakota Gov. Burgum Enters 2024 GOP Presidential Race

Facts

Former Great Plains Software CEO turned two-term North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum formally launched his campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential campaign at a kickoff event Wednesday in Fargo, North Dakota.¹
The conservative plans to focus on traditional pro-business issues, such as the economy, energy, and national security, while avoiding the culture wars that both the GOP frontrunner, former Pres. Donald Trump, and his main challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have adopted.²
This comes after the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed in which the 66-year-old long-shot candidate announced his run for president, arguing that America needs "a new leader for a changing economy."³
He cited his own experience as founder of a software company and promised to replicate his achievements as governor if elected president, including slashing spending, balancing the budget, and boosting energy production.⁴
Burgum, who is relatively unknown across the country, first assumed the North Dakota gubernatorial office in 2016 following a landslide victory against the Democratic and Libertarian candidates. In the past two presidential elections, he endorsed Trump.⁵
A Morning Consult survey conducted June 2-4 among 3,545 potential Republican primary voters found that 78% of them have either never heard of or have yet to make up their minds about Burgum.⁶

Narrative A, as provided by Dickinson Press. Though Gov. Doug Burgum is running on a back-to-basics pro-business platform to pull the GOP away from culture wars, it's very unlikely that his campaign will influence the race — let alone be a winning strategy. Republicans have mostly been supportive of culture wars, with culture warriors even leading the race for the North Dakota GOP leadership.
Narrative B, as provided by FiveThirtyEight. While most Republicans may have never heard of Burgum before he launched his campaign, he could emerge as the main alternative to Trump and DeSantis in the race for the GOP 2024 presidential nomination due to his deep pockets. Just like he did in his unexpected 2016 North Dakota GOP primary victory, he is expected to pump millions of dollars into his own campaign.