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BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The latest on Tuesday's primary election in North Dakota. (all times local):
9:10 p.m.
Former Microsoft executive Doug Burgum has defeated North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem in the Republican primary for governor.
The Fargo businessman is expected to be a heavy favorite in November over Rolla Rep. Marvin Nelson, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary and is seen as a longshot in a state that has not had Democratic governor since 1992. Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple is not seeking re-election.
The Stenehjem-Burgum matchup focused on qualifications to lead the state amid declining oil revenues.
Burgum is known in North Dakota as the godfather of software for building Fargo's Great Plains Software into a billion-dollar business, which he later sold to Microsoft.
Stenehjem was elected attorney general in 2000 and won the Republican convention delegates' endorsement for governor in April.
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9 p.m.
North Dakota voters have rejected the Legislature's move to loosen the state's Depression-era rules prohibiting corporate farming.
The North Dakota Farmers Union led the campaign to overturn the Legislature's decision last year to exempt pork and dairy operations from the state's corporate farming ban.
Supporters of the so-called ham-and-cheese law had said it would revitalize dairy and swine farms after years of decline.
Opponents say the law is an invitation for big, out-of-state corporations to set up operations in North Dakota.
Even after the vote in Tuesday's primary election, the debate over the law isn't over. The North Dakota Farm Bureau filed a lawsuit earlier this month in federal court, asking a judge to declare the entire law unconstitutional.
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3:30 p.m.
The race for the Republican nomination for governor and a decision on loosening North Dakota's ban on corporate farming is drawing people to the polls in North Dakota's primary election.
Sixty-two-year-old farmer Sherry Lockner came to a Mandan church to vote to uphold the state's family farming tradition. Eighty-eight year-old Richard Peterson, of Fargo, who has lived in North Dakota most of his life, said he decided after much debate to vote in favor of the bill to ease up on corporate farming.
Peterson picked Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem over Fargo's Doug Burgum for governor because of Stenehjem's experience in governing. Fifty-two-year-old Shane Martin, a Fargo middle school principal, said he made a rare foray into the Republican side of the ledger to vote for Burgum. Martin says Burgum can "shake things up" in Bismarck.
Peterson and Martin voted at the Fargodome, where about 300 people had gone through the doors by mid-afternoon.
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11:50 a.m.
Republican governor candidate Doug Burgum voted Tuesday at the public library in the heart of downtown Fargo, an area that the longtime entrepreneur and philanthropist has been dedicated to developing.
After filling out his ballot, he thanked all the election workers and told them he hoped for a large turnout.
About 25 people showed up at the library in the first hour of voting.
Outside the polling place, Burgum said in an interview that he's confident after a campaign that saw him travel 16,000 miles across the state in a 1974 GMC bus. He said his team focused on the things they could control and did everything in their power to run a winning campaign.
Burgum planned to spend the rest of the day going door to door and making calls from campaign headquarters.
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11:10 a.m.
Record-setting rainfall in Bismarck appears to be dampening turnout in the capital city for the state primary election.
Burleigh County Auditor Kevin Glatt says in the first few hours of voting Tuesday, some precincts that usually have good turnout had fewer than 100 voters, and weather might be a factor.
National Weather Service meteorologist Ken Simosko says nearly 2 ½ inches of rain fell between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. in Bismarck. That broke the city record of just under 2 inches set on the date in 1970, and rain was still falling.
Glatt says turnout for primaries often depends on what's on the ballot.
There are two main issues to be settled Tuesday — the Republican nomination for governor and a decision on loosening North Dakota's corporate farming ban
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7 a.m.
Polling sites are starting to open in North Dakota for the state's primary election.
Polls can't open earlier than 7 a.m. local time and they must be open by 9 a.m. in all precincts in which more than 75 votes were cast in the last general election. The sites must remain open until at least 7 p.m. and close no later than 9 p.m.
There are two main issues to be settled on the statewide level. Wayne Stenehjem and Doug Burgum are competing for the Republican nomination for governor. The winner is expected to be a heavy favorite in November over state Democratic candidate Marvin Nelson.
Voters also will decide whether to uphold the Legislature's move last year to loosen the state's Depression-era ban on corporate farming.
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00:30 a.m.
The biggest prize in North Dakota politics this year is likely to be settled in the Republican primary for governor as Wayne Stenehjem and Doug Burgum vie for the nomination.
The winner is expected to be a heavy favorite in November over state Rep. Marvin Nelson. The state lawmaker from Rolla is a little-known candidate who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary and is seen as a longshot in a state that has not had Democratic governor since 1992.
The Stenehjem-Burgum matchup has focused on which man is better qualified to lead North Dakota in times of declining oil revenues.
North Dakota voters also will decide Tuesday whether to uphold the Legislature's move last year to loosen the state's Depression-era ban on corporate farming.
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