Republican Ray Holmberg has won another term in the Senate, representing North Dakota's District 17, which includes southeast and south Grand Forks and some rural areas to the south and west.
With all precincts reporting, Holmberg has 3,348 votes compared to opponent Democrat Thomas Petros with 1,567 votes. That's 68 percent to 32 percent.
It's been seen as a very lopsided race, pitting Holmberg, a veteran lawmaker with 33 years of service in the Senate, against Petros, a newcomer to state politics.
Even Petros lamented that he had to be in the same district as Holmberg.
As a senior lawmaker, Holmberg has had plenty of time to build up enough clout to attain chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee.
ADVERTISEMENT
The retired teacher and counselor ran on a general economic development platform.
Petros is a UND psychology professor and, though he's not had experience at the state level, has been a veteran of university politics serving on the University Senate and, at one point, chairing the body.
He focused his campaign on making what he called investments in the state's "human capital," which meant, for example, more education funding and helping get injured workers back to work.
Reach Tran at (701) 780-1248; (800) 477-6572, ext. 248; or send e-mail to ttran@gfherald.com .
