Gov. John Hoeven was named the North Dakota Republican Party’s candidate for the U.S Senate after securing a majority vote by about 1,200 delegates at the state convention Saturday in Grand Forks.

Hoeven faced competition from Fargo architect Paul Sorum for the nomination. Hoeven was expected to get an overwhelming number of delegate votes — he did pick up 945 votes, while Sorum received 251 votes.

In his acceptance speech, Hoeven thanked Sorum and his wife, Heather, calling them “great people of faith and great people of family.” The nomination means “now the work starts,” he said, both for his own campaign and for state Rep. Rick Berg, R-Fargo, who was named the Republican U.S. House candidate earlier in the day.

“Now, we come together as Republican,s and we go out and win elections in November,” he said.

‘A slight message’

Sorum said in a short concession speech that the nomination contest was an unusual experience. “I’m not used to a competition where everyone’s on the same team,” he said.

Sorum then made a motion for the convention delegates to cast a unanimous vote to name Hoeven to be the official party nominee. Delegates approved the measure, making Hoeven the party endorsee in the June primary.

Still, some at the convention were surprised that Sorum was able to get about 21 percent of delegates’ support and wondered what that will mean as Hoeven gears up for a race against the Democrats.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., announced in January he would not seek re-election to a fourth term, and state Democrats will formally nominate candidates at the March 26-27 convention in Fargo. So far, only state Sen. Tracy Potter, D-Bismarck, a former Grand Forks resident, has announced intentions to seek the nomination.

State Sen. Bob Stenehjem, R-Bismarck, told reporters that Sorum’s closer-than-expected delegate count could be a sign of “a more conservative edge to the Republican Party” that attended the convention. It’s also something that should be taken seriously by Hoeven, he said.

“I think it’s just a slight message that hopefully the governor is listening to,” he said.

“That’s not a huge mandate, but that’s something that you’d want to consider I think,” Stenehjem added.

Sorum himself told the Herald earlier this month that he didn’t consider Hoeven to be a true conservative, and built his campaign around bringing true conservative values to Washington, D.C.

Hoeven told reporters the vote margin was “in line with what we expected” and the hard work Sorum put into the campaign showed in the delegate counts.

“It means that he was out there, he worked hard,” Hoeven said. “Now to have him as part of our party, I think he has a future in our party, and he’s going to be involved with us in our campaign.”

Hoeven and Sorum discussed working together on the Senate campaign shortly after the delegate counts were tallied. Hoeven said he’ll see “what kind of involvement he wants,” adding Sorum’s relationships and friendships around the state will help all Republican candidates in the November elections.

‘Close friends’

Sorum told reporters he will help Hoeven’s campaign, but the two still need to work on details on what role he will play. Sorum also pointed out he will not challenge Hoeven in the primaries, saying he has “other plans.”

“I’m here to serve these people, so I’m not going to challenge John,” he said. “We’re all on the same team.”

Sorum said he hadn’t really planned what he would do if he didn’t get the nomination, but said he was hoping for about 400 delegate votes. Still, with 251 votes, he didn’t consider that to be a total loss.

“You’ve got to remember I didn’t spend hardly any money,” he said. “I didn’t have a campaign manager. I didn’t really get any media attention. I didn’t lose. It was great.”

Getting more than 20 percent of delegates’ support shows his campaign message connected with state Republicans, Sorum said.

And what about his previous criticism that Hoeven isn’t a true conservative? Sorum pointed out he’s actually friends with Hoeven and thinks he would be a “vast improvement” over the senators from North Dakota in recent years.

“When you get to be close friends, it’s OK to hold your friend’s feet to the fire sometimes,” he said.

Hoeven said the fact that there’s no incumbent to run against could give North Dakota Republicans a good opportunity to get back in the Senate.

“That doesn’t happen very often, which is why we need to capitalize on it and that means we take nothing for granted, we work very hard,” he said. “This is about bringing the kind of business focus we have in North Dakota to Washington, D.C., and this country absolutely needs it.”