North Dakota governor defends crowded GOP primary field: ‘Competition is great for America’
By Andrew Millman, CNN
(CNN) — Republican presidential candidate Doug Burgum on Sunday sought to assuage concerns of an overcrowded 2024 primary field, which now boasts 12 high-profile GOP contenders.
“I don’t think a dozen candidates is too many. Competition is great for America. It’s great for any industry, and it’s great for the Republican Party. And it’s great for our voters to have choices,” the North Dakota governor told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”
Burgum entered the Republican race earlier this month with considerably less name recognition than others vying for the GOP nomination. With more established candidates such as former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis drawing national headlines, Burgum has so far struggled to register in the polls.
He tried to distinguish himself Sunday from his primary rivals, touting his Midwestern origins.
“One of the differentiators is when I grew up in a teeny little town in North Dakota, working on the farm, working on the ranch, working at the grain elevator, even working as a chimney sweep to pay my way through college,” he said.
“Having a president who understands what American workers have to do to deal with the inflation, with the high energy costs of the Biden administration … that makes a difference,” Burgum said.
Before his election as North Dakota governor in 2016, Burgum led the company Great Plains Software, which was later acquired by Microsoft, where he then worked as a senior vice president. He went on to found real estate development firm Kilbourne Group and co-found the venture capital firm Arthur Ventures.
“As someone who’s … built global businesses and been a governor, I have got some unique strengths. The only person that’s ever worked in technology, and, of course, technology is … changing every job, every company, and every industry,” he told Bash.
Turning to the issue of abortion, which has quickly become a defining issue in the Republican primary, Burgum reiterated his view that abortion policy should be determined at the state level.
“The Constitution defines what the limited role for the federal government is,” he said. “America is super diverse, and we need to make sure the federal government stays focused on its role.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence has called on his fellow 2024 contenders to back a federal ban on the procedure at 15 weeks. And Trump said Saturday at a conservative policy conference in Washington that the federal government had a “vital role” to play in restricting abortion. But he did not specify what kind of federal legislation he would push for or support if he were president again.
Asked by Bash about Trump’s call for a federal role, Burgum said, “I believe strongly that the federal government overreaches in so many different areas.”
“I support the Dobbs decision,” he said of the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. “It should be left to the states.”
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CNN’s Kate Sullivan and Shania Shelton contributed to this report.
