Doug Burgum: Governor of North Dakota since 2016

He is the 33rd Governor of North Dakota as a member of the Republican Party. He joined Great Plains Software in 1983 and became the company’s President in 1984 until resigning in 2016 for his gubernatorial run. He briefly ran for President of the United States in the 2024 election.

Doug Burgum
Official portrait, 2016
33rd Governor of North Dakota
Incumbent
Assumed office December 15, 2016
Lieutenant	Brent Sanford Tammy Miller
Preceded by	Jack Dalrymple
Personal details
Born	Douglas James Burgum (1956-08-01) August 1, 1956 (age 67) Arthur, North Dakota, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Karen Stoker (m. 1991; div. 2003) Kathryn Helgaas (m. 2016)
Children	3
Residence	Governor's Residence
Education	North Dakota State University (BA) Stanford University (MBA)
Website	Government website

Burgum was born and raised in the small town of Arthur, North Dakota. He studied at North Dakota State University and Stanford University. While at Stanford, he became friends with Steve Ballmer, who would later be CEO of Microsoft.

In 1983, Burgum invested in a small technology startup company, Great Plains Software. He became the company's president in 1984. Burgum sold the company to Microsoft for $1.1 billion in 2001. While working at Microsoft, he managed Microsoft Business Solutions. He was board chairman for Atlassian and SuccessFactors. Burgum is the founder of Kilbourne Group, a real-estate development firm.

In 2016, Burgum announced his plan to run for Governor of North Dakota as a Republican. He ran against State Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, who won the party's support at the party convention in April. However, Burgum was able to beat Stenehjem in the primary election two months later to win the nomination. Burgum would go on to win the November general election with over 75% of the vote.

Burgum was sworn in as the 33rd governor of North Dakota on December 15, 2016.

Burgum has set a goal for North Dakota to become carbon-neutral by 2030. In 2018, Burgum created the Vision Zero project. Since then, traffic-related deaths in North Dakota have reached record lows.

Burgum announced on January 22, 2024 that he would not run for a third term.

Burgum married his first wife, Karen Stoker, in 1991. They divorced in 2003. They had three children. In 2016, Burgum married Kathryn Helgaas.

On June 7, 2023, Burgum announced his presidential candidacy for the 2024 presidential election. His announcement made him the first North Dakotan to run for president. Burgum is reported to have spent more money on advertisements than any other presidential candidate since he began his campaign. After low polling numbers and failing to qualify in the third and fourth presidential debate, Burgum suspended his campaign on December 4, 2023. Afterward, Burgum began campaigning for former President Donald Trump, who said he wanted Burgum to be an important member of his administration.