North Dakota Republican Gov. Doug Burgum is reportedly considering jumping into the 2024 presidential race, GOP sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.
The sources told CBS that Burgum has begun hiring political consultants who have worked on previous Republican presidential campaigns and he is expected to make a decision within the next couple of weeks.
Burgum's likely decision to launch a campaign follows the North Dakota legislative session wrapping up earlier this month.
Meeting with the editorial board of a North Dakota newspaper earlier this week, the Sioux State governor said that he has been mulling a presidential run.
"That'll be next, to think about 2024," Burgum told The Forum.
"There's a value to being underestimated all the time," Burgum said, referencing the uphill slog he encountered in his first gubernatorial race, according to the newspaper. "That's a competitive advantage."
According to CBS, Burgum first ran for governor in 2016 as a political newcomer with no party endorsements and just 10% support in local polls. Though his opponent, then-North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem had the backing of the Republican establishment, Burgum won the race by 20 points partly because of his status as an outsider in the same election cycle in which former President Donald Trump won the White House.
The former software company CEO was able to self-fund his gubernatorial campaign due to the growth of his small business, Great Plains Software, into a $1 billion company that was ultimately acquired by Microsoft. Burgum's advisors told CBS that he stayed on as senior vice president after his company's North Dakota workers were retained by the corporation.
Running on his conservative record as North Dakota's governor, Burgum would be following the model set down by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another potential presidential contender.
Burgum signed one of the strictest anti-abortion measures in the country into law last month, which allows limited exceptions up to six weeks into pregnancy and only for medical emergencies at any other point.
Like DeSantis, Burgum has signed a transgender athlete ban and a bill that criminalizes gender-transition care for minors.
"Doug Burgum initially ran on a platform in support of anti-discrimination laws, but the far-right has taken the wheel within the National Republican Party," North Dakota Democratic Party Chair Patrick Hart said, according to CBS. "It's not surprising that he turned his back on LGBTQ+ North Dakotans now that he's desperately trying to make a national name for himself."
Burgum said he believes that 60% of American voters make up an exhausted "silent majority" that has only been offered limited political options.
"All the engagement right now is occurring on the edge," he told The Forum's editorial board. "There's definitely a yearning for some alternatives right now."
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