2000 United States House of Representatives election in North Dakota

The 2000 U.S. House of Representatives election for the state of North Dakota's at-large congressional district was held November 7, 2000. The incumbent, Democratic-NPL Congressman Earl Pomeroy was re-elected to his fifth term, defeating Republican candidate John Dorso.

2000 United States House of Representatives election in North Dakota

← 1998 November 7, 2000 (2000-11-07) 2002 →

Candidate Earl Pomeroy John Dorso Party Democratic–NPL Republican Popular vote 151,173 127,251 Percentage 52.9% 44.6%

County results Pomeroy:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Dorso:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. Representative before election Earl Pomeroy Democratic–NPL Elected U.S. Representative Earl Pomeroy Democratic–NPL

Only Pomeroy filed as a Dem-NPLer, and the endorsed Republican candidate was John Dorso, who was serving as the North Dakota House Majority Leader. Pomeroy and Dorso won the primary elections for their respective parties.^[1]

While the election was the closest for Pomeroy since 1994, Dorso was unable to defeat the four-term congressman. Dorso's father, Carmen Dorso, died during the campaign from leukemia.^[2]

Two independent candidates, Jan Shelver and Kenneth R. Loughead, also sought the seat, but had little impact on the result. Loughead had previously sought the seat in 1998 and 1996.^[3]

Results

North Dakota's at-large congressional district election, 2000^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic–NPL	Earl Pomeroy (incumbent)	151,173	52.92
	Republican	John Dorso	127,251	44.55
	Independent	Jan Shelver	4,731	1.66
	Independent	Kenneth R. Loughead	2,481	0.87
	Write-in		22	0.01
Total votes			285,658	100.00
	Democratic–NPL hold