Doug Burgum is dropping out of the 2024 Republican presidential primary, his campaign announced on Monday.
The North Dakota governor had emphasized three key issues on the trail — the economy, energy and national security — but failed to gain traction with GOP voters. He was polling last on the list of major candidates tracked by 538’s national average and did not qualify for the most recent primary debate.
In a statement, Burgum, a former software executive before entering politics, said he began his campaign “clear-eyed about our mission: bring a business leader and proven governor’s voice to the fight for the best of America.”
And while he said he was proud of how his messaging had, he said, focused the 2024 conversation on the “essential, core responsibilities of the President and the executive branch,” such as foreign policy, he also criticized what he called the national Republican Party’s “clubhouse debate requirements” for “nationalizing the primary process and taking the power of democracy away from the engaged, thoughtful citizens of Iowa and New Hampshire.”
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum speaks to guests at the Republican Party of Iowa 2023 Lincoln Dinner on July 28, 2023 in Des Moines.
Scott Olson/Getty Images, FILE
Each successive GOP primary has required candidates to get higher and higher percentages either in national polls or certain state polls, as well as receive more and more donors.
“None of their debate criteria relate to the qualifications related to actually doing the job of the president,” Burgum argued.
Still, he projected optimism about the future and said, “We remain committed to improving the lives of every American by moving America 180 degrees in the opposite direction of [President] Joe Biden.”
“Our decision to run for President came from a place of caring deeply about every American and a mission to re-establish trust in America’s leadership and our institutions of democracy,” Burgum said of he and his wife, Kathryn.
“While this primary process has shaken my trust in many media organizations and political party institutions, it has only strengthened my trust in America,” he said. “Our nation doesn’t need to be perfect to be exceptional.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
