John Hoeven

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Governor of North Dakota
John Hoeven (R)

2000  — Current
Preceded by: Ed Schafer

John Henry Hoeven III (born March 13, 1957), is the current Governor of North Dakota and a member of the Republican Party. He has been serving as Governor since December 15, 2000, making him the longest-serving current governor in the United States. Prior to his election to the Governor's office, Hoeven served as the President of the nation's only state-owned bank, the Bank of North Dakota, from 1993 to 2000.

Contents

Biography

John Hoeven was born in Bismarck, North Dakota, and attended Dartmouth College where he was a brother of Alpha Chi Alpha Fraternity. He then received an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and was a banker in Minot, North Dakota prior to pursuing a political career. From 1993 to 2000, he was the president and CEO of the state-owned Bank of North Dakota. He sought the office of the Governor of North Dakota as a Republican in 2000, and he was elected, defeating Democrat Heidi Heitkamp by a margin of 55 to 45 percent. Hoeven's governorship has also included a number of high-profile lawsuits brought against the state on everything from water management to hunting licenses to prison abuse. In 2004, when up for re-election, Hoeven faced Democratic challenger Joe Satrom. Hoeven won re-election by a vote of 71 to 28 percent. In late 2006, the state's budget surplus rose past $600 million dollars. As of November 2006, Hoeven is the most popular governor in the nation. His approval rating stands at 86 percent with only 10 percent disapproving. In 2007, Hoeven proposed a 24% increase in spending, effectively halving the state's $600 million surplus.

In January 2007, Hoeven became the nation's most senior governor, having been inaugurated on December 15, 2000, as established by the North Dakota Constitution. The nation's second longest serving governor is Rick Perry of Texas, who took office on December 21, 2000, when George W. Bush resigned the governorship in preparation to become president.[1]

2006 Senate election

U.S. Senator Kent Conrad was up for re-election in 2006. Republicans (including President George W. Bush and Karl Rove) actively recruited Governor Hoeven to face Conrad. Hoeven was widely believed to be the only Republican who could pose a challenge to Conrad. SurveyUSA polls showed that Conrad was the most popular Senator in the country, and Hoeven was the most popular governor. A poll conducted by PMR (8/26-9/3 MoE 3.9) for the Fargo Forum newspaper had as result for a hypothetical matchup: Hoeven-35%, Conrad-27%, Uncommitted-38%.

This poll showed voter conflict between two very popular politicians in a small state where party loyalty is often trumped by personality. On September 30, 2005, Hoeven officially declined a challenge to Conrad, stating, "A day may come when we ask the people of North Dakota to allow us to serve them in a different capacity, but that time is not now."[2] Hoeven went on to endorse the candidate who did decide to run on the Republican ticket, Dwight Grotberg. Nonetheless, Hoeven's decision not to run against Conrad effectively handed the incumbent a fourth full term.

2008 election plans

On September 25, 2007, Hoeven's deputy press secretary, Don Larson, announced that he would be taking a leave of absence from his job to manage the governor's re-election campaign. Another Hoeven staff member, Don Canton, said this was not a formal re-election announcement, but one would be coming later in the fall. On November 13, Governor Hoeven made his formal announcement and campaign kickoff with stops in Fargo, Grand Forks, Bismarck and Minot.[3]

Policies as governor

Hoeven has walked a conservative line as a politician. He is against abortion except for cases of rape or incest and is against gay marriage and civil unions. The governor supports decreasing access to parole for offenders and is opposed to gun control. He believes that public health care should be provided only to the elderly, that drug control policy should be a state and not a federal issue, that alternative fuels are a long-term solution but that more oil is required now, and that investment tax credits should be provided for farm investment.[4]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.surveyusa.com/50State2006/Approval50StateGovernor061120.htm
  2. ↑ In-Forum
  3. ↑ http://hoevengovernor.com/allmedia.asp?mediaID=65&sz=63728
  4. ↑ http://www.ontheissues.org/John_Hoeven.htm

External links

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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