Statewide primary voter turnout reaches nearly 16-percent

(Bismarck, ND) -- The North Dakota Secretary of State's office is reporting that nearly 16-percent of eligible voters turned out for yesterday's primary election.

Over 105-thousand ballots were cast. The state has more than 671-thousand eligible voters.

Adams County had the highest percentage of voter turnout with just over 50-percent of eligible voters casting ballots.  Williams County showed the lowest turnout will just under six percent heading to the polls.

As far as some of the state-wide races the were whittled down from Tuesday's primary, they include:

• Incumbent John Hoeven and Democratic-NPL candidate Katrina Christiansen will face off for a North Dakota U.S. Senate seat in November. Hoeven sailed past challenger Riley Kuntz in Tuesday's primary, winning nearly 78-percent of the vote. Christiansen defeated Democratic-NPL opponent Michael Steele by a wide margin.

•  Republican Kelly Armstrong and Democratic-NPL challenger Mark Haugen are headed to the November general election for North Dakota's sole Congressional seat. Both ran unopposed in Tuesday's primary, generating one percent or fewer write-in votes. Armstrong was first elected to Congress in 2018. 

• Michael Howe and Jeffrey Powell have won their parties' nominations for North Dakota Secretary of State. Howe defeated Republican challenger Marvin Lepp. Powell ran unopposed. Incumbent Al Jaeger is not running for re-election.

•  North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley will take on Timothy Lamb in the general election. Wrigley and Lamb both ran unopposed in Tuesday's primary, with each race generating a small number of write-in votes. Wrigley was appointed to fill out the term of Wayne Stenehjem following his death in January.

• Republican Incumbent Doug Goehring and Democratic-NPL candidate Fintan Dooley are set to face off in November's general election for North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner. Each ran unopposed  in Tuesday's primary with a small number of write-in votes on each side. The Agriculture Commissioner oversees a key aspect of the state's economy. The Commissioner is also part of the three-member North Dakota Industrial Commission panel that oversees state-owned enterprises.

•  Brian Kroshus will continue on as North Dakota's Tax Commissioner. The Republican ran unopposed in the primary and there is no Democratic-NPL party candidate. Kroshus was appointed Tax Commissioner in January after previous commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger resigned last November. Kroshus previously served on the Public Service Commission.

• Justice Daniel Crothers has been re-elected to the North Dakota Supreme Court. Crothers will serve another ten-year term on the court. He was appointed to the court in June 2005, then was elected to an unexpired four year term in 2008.  He was re-elected to a full term in 2012. Crothers received his undergraduate degree at the University of North Dakota, before graduating from the UND School of Law in 1982.

For local election results from the Fargo Mayoral race, City Commission, Park Board and School Board, as well as the West Fargo School Board, click the attached links.