Hoeven to seek third term

BISMARCK--Gov. John Hoeven is running for a third term.

Hoeven made it known this morning when an aide, Don Larson, issued a statement saying he's left his position in the governor's office to manage the governor's 2008 re-election campaign.

Hoeven said he will make a more formal announcement later this fall and that Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple will again be on the ticket. Dalrymple could not be reached immediately for comment.

Hoeven, 50 and a Republican, had been widely expected to seek a third term but, until today, had not an-nounced a decision.

The governor didn't say when he had decided, but, "In the last month or so, we've been out (around the state) talking to people about running again."

He said he, his wife, Mikey, and Dal-rymple made the decision because they're "excited about what's going on and the future of the state."

Hoeven was first elected in 2000, defeating Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp 55 percent to 45 percent and won re-election in 2004, beating Democrat Joe Satrom in a landslide.

Among Democrats, only state Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo, has announced interest in the 2008 gubernatorial race. He announced an exploratory commit-tee on Aug. 31.

If re-elected, Hoeven could become only the second governor in state history to serve 12 years. Gov. Wil-liam Guy served from 1960-72.

But many political observers believe Hoeven would seek to oust Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. from his U.S. Senate seat in 2010 instead of com-pleting a third term. Democrats will make that an issue in the 2008 cam-paign.

"I think the first question the gover-nor needs to answer is whether he's going to complete all four years of his term (if re-elected)," Democratic-NPL Executive Director Jamie Selzler said today. "If that (Senate race) is his intention, he needs to be honest about it. But if it is not his intention, he needs to assure the voters he's run-ning for a four-year term and he needs to serve it."

Asked today about Senate aspira-tions, Hoeven said, "I'm not going to speculate on something like that. We're focused on this job." When pressed, he added, "I'm not going to rule anything out."

Hoeven consistently had approval ratings from the mid 70 percent range to as high as 86 percent in monthly tracking polls previously done by SurveyUSA, which ranked all 50 governors. He was usually No. 1 or No. 2 in the nation. The polls, con-ducted by automatic dialing, have apparently not been done in North Dakota since November.

Before entering politics, Hoeven was a banker, serving as executive vice president at his family's bank, First Western in Minot, until 1993, when he was appointed president of the state-owned Bank of North Da-kota. He left that job to campaign full time for governor in 2000. It was his first attempt at public office.

Speculation about whether Hoeven would seek a third term never reached the fever pitch it did eight years ago when Gov. Ed Schafer was pestered for months by Republican supporters, news reporters and the public about whether he would run again. When he announced in October 1999 that he would not, it surprised many, as Schafer clearly enjoyed the job.

The last governor to attempt a third four-year term was Democrat Art Link, who was defeated in 1980 by then Attorney General Al Olson. Olson was ousted after one term by George Sinner, a Democrat, who served two terms and left office in 1992. That was the last time North Dakota had a Democratic-NPL gover-nor.

Though Guy served 12 years, he was not elected to three four-year terms, but rather to two two-year terms and two four-year terms. In 1964, during his tenure, voters amended the state constitution to change statewide offices from two-year terms to four-year terms. Guy was elected in 1960, 1962, 1964 and 1968.