By Jonas Blank
Congressional Quarterly

Electoral votes: 3

Delegates: 22

Chairman: TBD as of July 25

Hotel: Courtyard by Marriott (Beverly Hills) (310) 556-2777

1996 Election:
Dole – 47%
Clinton – 40%
Perot – 12%

Although Vice President Al Gore will have solid support from North Dakota's delegates to the Democratic National Convention, the state almost certainly is seldom mentioned in the strategic councils of Gore's presidential campaign. Since the end of World War II, North Dakota has voted Democratic for president only once, in President Lyndon B. Johnson's sweeping 1964 national landslide.

Yet there is a rather strong element of "prairie populism" in North Dakota's politics that enables Democrats to compete at other levels. All three of the state's members of Congress - Sens. Byron L. Dorgan and Kent Conrad and at-large Rep. Earl Pomeroy - are Democrats, and all are delegates to their party's national convention.

Other delegates attribute these Democrats' successes to two factors: their reputations for personal integrity and their ability to help the farmers who are a large constituency in North Dakota.

"While we're rural and small [in population], our guys have still managed to deliver," said delegate Max Laird, referring to legislation such as a 1998 agricultural aid and flood relief package that was $3 billion richer on a national level than originally proposed by congressional Republicans.

The populist tendencies of North Dakota's Democrats have been reinforced by the fact that the remote state has missed much of the recent national prosperity. It is the only state in the union with a lower population today than it had in 1930, and the depopulation continues.

"We've been suffering through," said state Rep. Shirley Meyer, a farmer-rancher and convention delegate. "We're looking for a savior out there."

Though delegates agree that people have been pleased with the Clinton administration's efforts for farmers, they aren't convinced Gore can earn the agrarian population's support.

Gore's reputation as an environmentalist may be a sticking point for North Dakota, which is concerned about federal land restrictions in the West - such as the rules proposed for the Dakota Prairies National Grasslands, used for grazing by the state's ranchers.

For Gore to win in North Dakota, Meyer said, "It's going to hinge on how he feels about family farming and the grasslands issue. I've let him and his staff know my concerns, and they seemed very willing to listen and to understand."

Laird added, "In terms of his actual proposals, I'm not yet convinced that we've heard what the Midwest needs to hear."

Fortunately for Gore, most delegates do not believe that President Clinton's personal controversies will reflect on his candidacy. "They tend to view [Gore] as a separate, independent person. I don't think Clinton will harm or help him personally," said Meyer.

While state Democratic Party Chairman William Heigaard said many North Dakotans dislike Clinton as a person, he nonetheless hoped that Clinton the president would be prominently featured at the convention. "I think President Clinton is a great communicator," said Heigaard. "I don't think he should be put in the background at all."

NORTH DAKOTA NOTABLES: U.S. Sens. Byron L. Dorgan and Kent Conrad; U.S. Rep. Earl Pomeroy; Democratic National Committee members Gorman King Jr. and Corliss Mushik; state Reps. Lois Delmore, April Fairfield and Shirley Meyer.