Another Republican presidential candidate has qualified for the upcoming Republican primary debate, but chances are, you have never heard of him until now. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has qualified for the debate by securing the required number of individual donors and polling at one percent in a national poll.
Burgum accomplished this feat by employing some rather unorthodox tactics: His campaign offered donors $20 gift cards for $1 donations, which raised questions about its legality. Burgum’s low-profile bid faces tough competition from more well-known candidates in the 2024 presidential race, but now, he will have an opportunity to make a splash in what is already an interesting primary season:
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has qualified for the first GOP presidential primary debate, according to POLITICO’s tracking. He’s the seventh candidate to punch a ticket to Milwaukee next month.
Burgum, a one-time software executive who first ran for governor in 2016, has poured his personal wealth into the campaign, helping to propel him onto the debate stage on Aug. 23 alongside other candidates who have been in the national spotlight for much longer.
Burgum has spent millions of his own money into his campaign, blanketing Iowa and New Hampshire with television ads that have attracted a pocket of support in those states.
But likely hundreds of thousands more went to another unusual play: Promising those who gave his campaign a buck a $20 gift card in return, all in an effort for Burgum to meet a requirement set up by the Republican National Committee that candidates have 40,000 unique donors, with 200 in 20 different states or territories.
“Governor Burgum is looking forward to sharing his focus on the economy, energy and national security at the August debate,” spokesperson Lance Trover declared in a written statement. “In less than 7 weeks, Governor Burgum has exceeded all the requirements for the debate.”
Burgum’s candidacy has been a question mark for many in the chattering class. The governor has kept a somewhat low profile while leading North Dakota. The fact that he is going up against some larger names in the Republican Party seems to raise further questions as to his reasons for running.
However, there might be at least one issue on which he could win support from the base: energy. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, he explained how the United States could better regulate its energy use while dealing with environmental issues:
One thing Mr. Burgum thinks North Dakota can teach the country is how to keep the lights on and address climate change at the same time. He’s a fracking enthusiast with a CEO’s attention to detail. The Bakken Shale, 2 miles down, is only 30 feet thick, Mr. Burgum says, but that’s no trouble for today’s horizontal drillers. “The majority of the wells we’re permitting now are 3-mile laterals,” he says. Some are 4 miles, unlocking more energy for the same footprint on the surface.
“At 7,000 feet underground,” he continues, “there’s a 300-foot layer of sandstone called the Broom Creek, and we can store all the nation’s CO2 for the next 50 years, if you could get it to North Dakota.” Some projects are in the works, and Mr. Burgum doesn’t see real environmental concerns. “There’s a huge layer of shale above and below,” he says. “It’s a mile away from any water supply. And by the way, if CO2 got into your water supply, you’d have carbonated water instead of regular water. I mean, it’s not a toxic chemical.”
The governor’s original aim is to make his state carbon neutral by 2030 by relying on technology instead of abandoning fossil fuels.
Six other Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, Sen. Tim Scott, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have also qualified for the first debate, which is scheduled for August 23.