United States | North Dakota rising

Meet a leading Trump vice-presidential contender

How Doug Burgum went from dark horse to favourite

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum waves at a rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, May 11th 2024
Photograph: AP
|BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA

FEW CONSIDER North Dakota, home to just under 800,000 people, to be a political laboratory. Though a beautiful and pleasant place to raise a family, North Dakota lacks a tourist draw like South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore. And it was the only state that saw its population decline between 1930 and 2000, while America’s more than doubled in size. Yet the Peace Garden State has produced plenty of notable Americans. North Dakota’s hall of fame, a collection of portraits on the ground floor of the state’s 19-storey Art Deco capitol, honours authors, generals, Olympians, entertainers—and even some journalists. It also features the former CEO of Great Plains Software, Doug Burgum.

Explore more

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “North Dakota rising”

From the July 13th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

A container ship sails as the sun sets in Bayonne, New Jersey, United States.

Does Donald Trump have unlimited authority to impose tariffs?

Yes, but other factors could hold him back

Special Counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on a recently unsealed indictment including four felony counts against former U.S. President Donald Trump.

As Jack Smith exits, Donald Trump’s allies hint at retribution

The president-elect hopes to hand the justice department to loyalists



Donald Trump and Tulsi Gabbard are coming for the spooks

The president-elect’s intelligence picks suggest a radical agenda

Matt Gaetz withdraws from consideration as America’s attorney-general

Will the Senate be brave enough to block Donald Trump’s other outlandish nominees?