North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum joins 2024 presidential race
"There's a value to being underestimated," he has said.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum announced on Wednesday that he is joining 2024 presidential race -- becoming the 12th Republican candidate on the list, with a pitch to voters focused on lessons he learned out West.
Burgum, a former software CEO elected in 2016, teased his announcement with a video released on Monday. He's set to make it official during remarks from Fargo on Wednesday morning.
Titled "Change," Burgum's teaser video shows him tracing his biographical roots: "I started a shoeshine business, worked at the grain elevator and as the chimney sweep, paid my way through college then earned an MBA from Stanford. I ignored those who said North Dakota was too small, too cold and too remote to build a world-class software company."
A native of Arthur, North Dakota, Burgum founded Great Plains Software in 1983 and it was ultimately acquired by Microsoft in 2001; Burgum remained active in the company until 2007.
"I literally bet the farm to help build a tiny startup into a billion-dollar company with customers in 132 countries," he said in his teaser video, describing himself as "a new leader for a changing economy."
