A poll worker shows North Dakota Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong a touch-screen voting machine during early voting at the Bismarck Event Center on Nov. 2, 2026. (Photo by Jack Dura/North Dakota Monitor)
BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – North Dakota’s governor cast his ballot Monday, telling reporters he expects good results for Republicans in the state but not necessarily nationally.
“I think we’re doing well here. I think we have reasonable, rational legislators that have put the state on a great path,” Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong told reporters.
Armstrong, a former congressmember, said he expects national Republicans “are going to be asking some tough questions tomorrow.” He said he has friends across the country who are facing some tough races. Armstrong said he campaigned for former House Republican colleagues Tom Tiffany for Wisconsin governor, U.S. Reps. Bryan Steil in Wisconsin and Brad Finstad in Minnesota.
In Congress, Democrats are expected to take control of the House from Republicans, but the GOP-led Senate is a tossup.
Armstrong arrived in the rain at the Bismarck Event Center with his wife, Kjersti, an aide and a member of his security detail. The couple shuffled through the line for early voting just after polls opened at 9 a.m.
The governor presented an ID to a poll worker who asked him standard questions for every voter, including whether he is at least 18 and a U.S. citizen and whether he had lived at his provided address – the governor’s residence on the state Capitol grounds – for at least 30 days.
The Armstrongs soon made their way to a cluster of touch-screen voting machines – (“It’s a lot easier for me to touch a screen than it is to fill in the bubbles,” the governor told reporters) – where he affixed his eyeglasses and began making his choices like other voters around him.
After a few minutes, he rose, turned in his ballot and picked up a red “You Betcha I Voted” sticker, which he stuck to his lapel. He said the voting process was quick, easy and convenient.
“We got here at 9, it took us six minutes and you’re interviewing me already,” he told reporters as voters came and went. He encouraged everyone eligible to turn out.
Early in-person voting is available in some counties Monday. Polls open on Election Day between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., depending on location. Polls will close at 7 p.m. local time. Absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. Tuesday. Absentee ballots are not accepted at polling places, but can be dropped off with the county auditor or county dropbox.
Armstrong supported more than two dozen North Dakota Republican statewide and legislative candidates with endorsements and more than $430,000 in campaign contributions, mostly before the June primary.
He also appeared in a video ad supporting Measure 1 for a 60% voter threshold to amend the state constitution. He opposed Measure 2 for free school breakfast and lunch for K-12 students.
Armstrong said he planned to work on his state budget blueprint on Monday, then spend Tuesday hunting and later watching election results.
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