Gov. John Hoeven (R) Elected 2000, 1st term up Jan. 2005
Born:	March 13, 1957, Bismarck
Home:	Bismarck
Education:	Dartmouth, B.A. 1979; Northwestern U., Kellogg Grad. Schl., M.B.A. 1981
Religion:	Catholic
Marital Status:	married (Mikey)
Professional Career:	Exec. V.P., First Western Bank, 1986-93; Pres. & CEO, Bank of ND, 1993-00.
Additional Info
Recent Articles · Office Election Results
More On North Dakota
At A Glance · State Profile Almanac Home

John Hoeven, the governor of North Dakota, is a Republican elected in 2000. He was born in Bismarck and grew up in Minot; he graduated from Dartmouth College and received an MBA from Northwestern. In 1981, he entered the family business, First Western Bank in Minot and became executive vice president. He was active in many civic endeavors. In 1993 he was chosen to be head of the state-owned Bank of North Dakota--a Non-Partisan League creation--by a board that included his predecessor as governor, Republican Ed Schafer, and his 2000 Democratic opponent, Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp. Under Hoeven's stewardship, the bank's worth rose from $990 million to $1.6 billion and its loan portfolio increased from $200 million to $1 billion; it returns $50 million into the state's biannual budget. Hoeven was not always a Republican; in 1996, as a Democrat, he thought out loud about running against Schafer. He gave serious consideration to running in 2000 only when Schafer announced in October 1999 he would not run again.

Schafer, whose family started one of North Dakota's few big businesses, Gold Seal Wax, was widely popular and had been re-elected overwhelmingly in 1996. Republicans worried that they had no good candidate to run against the popular Heitkamp. In November Hoeven, who had never won elective office, announced his candidacy, promising to take up where Schafer left off.

This was a generally civil campaign, between two candidates who knew each other well. Bismarck is a small town, where officeholders can scarcely avoid each other, and North Dakotans are a civil people. Hoeven cited his work in attracting jobs by founding Minot's Magic Fund, a city sales tax used for business development, and by organizing to keep Minot Air Force Base off the base-closure list, as well as his work at the Bank of North Dakota. He called for economic development with high-paying jobs in technology and said that education was crucial in preparing future workers; he pledged more money for teacher training and salaries. Heitkamp, who grew up in the town of Mantador (population 77), was elected tax commissioner in 1984 and 1988 and attorney general in 1992 and 1996. She was known for her "big red hair" and her work in the tobacco lawsuit and settlement. She said she would try to keep young people in the state through a recruitment and mentoring program, by reinstating a living wage for employees of companies receiving financial assistance and by giving tax incentives to companies guaranteeing high-wage jobs. She said she would "demand a domestic farm policy that works for family farms" and "fight back against unfair foreign competition."

These were two attractive candidates running on similar, though not identical, platforms. They both raised over $1 million, Hoeven getting more from business interests, Heitkamp from labor unions and tobacco case lawyers. They were running about even in polls when, in September 2000, Heitkamp announced that she had breast cancer. She underwent a mastectomy September 25, and Hoeven suspended his ads for two days. Quickly she returned to the campaign trail. For several weeks, Heitkamp had a small lead in the polls. But then the momentum went back to Hoeven, and he won 55%-45%. He carried the state's largest counties 57%-43%; she carried only 12 rural counties. Voters over the age of 60 backed the Democrat, voters under 60 the Republican: A familiar North Dakota pattern. At the same time, Republicans won seven of nine of the statewide offices and increased their majorities in the legislature. North Dakota's skyscraper Capitol, towering over neatly-kept Bismarck and the rolling plains beyond, now contained more Republicans in high office than at any time since the NPL allied with the Democrats around 1960.

As governor, Hoeven began Phase 2 of the North Dakota Telecommunications Network and combined several state agencies--tourism, economic development, finance, job training--into a Department of Commerce. He promoted value added projects and agricultural research. In June 2002 voters, against Hoeven's advice, voted 73%-27% to require banks and credit unions to get customers' permission before selling data about them. In July 2002 Hoeven traveled to Cuba--the second governor to do so, after Illinois's George Ryan--and signed agreements to sell $2 million of North Dakota products. But Cuba is a market not much larger than the Dominican Republic and a few months later the deals had not gone through. Democrats put on the November 2002 ballot a measure to provide an income tax credit of up to $10,000 to North Dakotans in their 20s who stayed in the state--an attempt to staunch the outflow of the young. Voters rejected it 67%-33%. At the same time Republicans lost a few seats in the legislature. In December 2002, Hoeven presented a budget that drew $50 million from two trust funds and borrowed $20 million to complete the Telecommunications Network and which provided for teacher salary increases and $10 million for a Devils Lake outlet. Some legislators were skittish about spending one-time revenue for ongoing projects; but revenues exceeded expectations in the second half of 2002 and North Dakota's fiscal problems were far less dire than those of many other states.

Recent News Coverage
Search the CongressDaily, Hotline, National Journal and Technology Daily archives using the form below:

Office
State Capitol, 600 E. Boulevard, Bismarck 58505, 701-328-2200; Fax: 701-328-2205; Web: www.governor.state.nd.us.

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent
2000 general	John Hoeven (R)	159,255	55%
	Heidi Heitkamp (D)	130,144	45%
2000 primary	John Hoeven (R)	unopposed
1996 general	Edward T. Schafer (R)	174,937	66%
	Lee Kaldor (D)	89,349	34%