Thirteen new state's attorneys elected

Based on unofficial results from the November 5 elections, North Dakota will have new faces in 13 state's attorney positions. Nine new state's attorneys were elected to seats left vacant by incumbents, while four incumbents were defeated in contested elections.

In four counties, incumbents were defeated in contested elections:

In Bowman County, challenger Nici Meyer defeated incumbent Steven Wild;
In Dickey County, challenger Gary Neuharth defeated incumbent Stephen McLean;
In Richland County, challenger A. W. "Warren" Stokes defeated incumbent Earle Myers, Jr.;
In Walsh County, challenger Sharon Wilson Martens defeated incumbent Stephen Rice.

In four counties with open seats, the incumbent's choice not to seek reelection inspired a contest for state's attorney:

In Foster County, Paul Murphy defeated his wife Marina Spahr-Murphy in the race for the seat vacated by incumbent Fabian Noack.
In Ransom County, Jeffrey Leadbetter defeated Russell Myhre in the race for the seat vacated by incumbent Wayne Jones.
In Slope County, Nici Meyer defeated Bruce Selinger in the race for the seat vacated by incumbent Jeff Rotering.
In Ward County, John Van Grinsven defeated Paul Probst in the race for the seat vacated by incumbent Douglas Mattson, who won election as district judge.

In five counties with open seats, the candidates to be the new state's attorney faced no opposition:

Adams County incumbent Jeff Rotering did not seek reelection and T.L. Secrest replaces him as state's attorney.
In Eddy County, incumbent Robert Manly retired and Travis Peterson replaces him as state's attorney.
In Grand Forks County, James Odegard retired and Peter Welte replaces him as state's attorney.
Kidder County incumbent Jerome Renner did not seek reelection and Joe Vetsch replaces him as state's attorney.
In McLean County, Merle Torkelson retired and Ladd Erickson replaces her as state's attorney.

In nine counties, incumbents won contested elections:

In Cass County, incumbent Birch Burdick defeated Stephen R. Dawson;
In Cavalier County, incumbent R. Scott Stewart defeated Huma Ahsan;
In McIntosh County, incumbent Terry Elhard defeated David Ogren ;
In Pembina County, incumbent Barbara Whelan defeated Robert Fleming;
In Sheridan County, incumbent Walter Lipp defeated Robin Thompson Gordon;
In Towner County, incumbent Lisa Beckstrom Gibbens defeated Robert Ackre;
In Traill County, incumbent Stuart Larson defeated Charles Stock;
In Wells County, incumbent Kathleen Trosen defeated Ted Seibel.

In 31 counties, the incumbent state's attorney ran unopposed. There was no race in Steele County, where state's attorney is an appointed position.

A complete list of races can be found below. Unofficial vote totals are shown for contested elections.

State's Attorney Elections

November 6, 2002

County	Incumbent	Challenger(s)
Adams	Jeff Rotering (did not seek reelection)	T.L. Secrest (ran unopposed)
Barnes	Robin Huseby (ran unopposed)
Benson	James Wang (ran unopposed)
Billings	Jay Brovold (ran unopposed)
Bottineau	Asmunder Swain Benson (ran unopposed)
Bowman	Steven Wild (560)	Nici Meyer (927)
Burke	Richard Wilkes (ran unopposed)
Burleigh	Richard Riha (ran unopposed)
Cass	Birch Burdick (22,216)	Stephen R. Dawson (17,793)
Cavalier	R. Scott Stewart (1,179)	Huma Ahsan (1,045)
Dickey	Stephen McLean (1,097)	Gary Neuharth (1,130)
Divide	Michel Stefonowicz (ran unopposed)
Dunn	Ross Sundeen (ran unopposed)
Eddy	Robert Manly (did not seek reelection)	Travis Peterson (ran unopposed)
Emmons	Donald Becker (ran unopposed)
Foster	Fabian Noack (did not seek reelection)	Marina Spahr-Murphy (631) v. Paul Murphy (879)
Golden Valley	Charles Peterson (ran unopposed)
Grand Forks	James Odegard (did not seek reelection)	Peter Welte (ran unopposed)
Grant	Ronald Weikum (ran unopposed)
Griggs	James Wold (ran unopposed)
Hettinger	James Gion (ran unopposed)
Kidder	Jerome Renner (did not seek reelection)	Joe Vetsch (ran unopposed)
LaMoure	Daniel Narum (ran unopposed)
Logan	Gerald Kuhn (ran unopposed)
McHenry	Robin Thompson Gordon (ran unopposed)
McIntosh	Terry Elhard (984)	David Ogren (703)
McKenzie	Dennis Johnson (ran unopposed)
McLean	Merle Torkelson (did not seek reelection)	Ladd Erickson (ran unopposed)
Mercer	James Johnson (ran unopposed)
Morton	Allen Koppy (ran unopposed)
Mountrail	Wade Enget (ran unopposed)
Nelson	Terence Devine (ran unopposed)
Oliver	John Mahoney (ran unopposed)
Pembina	Barbara Whelan (1,718)	Robert Fleming (1,470)
Pierce	Galen Mack (ran unopposed)
Ramsey	Lonnie Olson (ran unopposed)
Ransom	Wayne Jones (did not seek reelection)	Jeffrey Leadbetter (1,351) v. Russell Myhre (665)
Renville	Marvin Madsen (ran unopposed)
Richland	Earle Myers, Jr.(2,529)	A. W. "Warren" Stokes (3,842)
Rolette	Mary O'Donnell (ran unopposed)
Sargent	Lyle Bopp (ran unopposed)
Sheridan	Walter Lipp (517)	Robin Thompson Gordon (388)
Sioux	Jeffrey Sheets (ran unopposed)
Slope	Jeff Rotering (did not seek reelection)	Nici Meyer (279) v. Bruce Selinger (177)
Stark	Tom Henning (ran unopposed)
Steele	Paul Murphy (appointed)
Stutsman	Frederick Fremgen (ran unopposed)
Towner	Lisa Beckstrom Gibbens (720)	Robert Ackre (627)
Traill	Stuart Larson (1,704)	Charles Stock (1,580)
Walsh	Stephen Rice (1,672))	Sharon Wilson Martens (2,514)
Ward	Douglas Mattson (did not seek reelection)	John Van Grinsven (10,835) v. Paul Probst (5,737)
Wells	Kathleen Trosen (1,425)	Ted Seibel (626)
Williams	Linda Hickman (ran unopposed)