It\u2019s been an exciting election season, with a lot of interesting candidates vying for the Republican nomination.<\/p>\n
And just when you thought things couldn’t get any more interesting for the upcoming debate, things took a drastic turn.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, one of these contenders may have to miss out on Wednesday night\u2019s debate due to an unexpected setback.<\/p>\n
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum has been hospitalized after suffering an injury during a pickup basketball game.<\/p>\n
The Daily Caller Foundation reported Wednesday that Gov. Burgum had been rushed to a Milwaukee-area hospital after sustaining injuries during an unfortunate basketball game accident.<\/p>\n
His campaign confirmed the details of his spill, with a spokesman adding that it\u2019s \u201cunclear if he will be able to stand at debate\u201d.<\/p>\n
The news was first reported by CNN.<\/p>\n
Governor Burgum had met the stringent qualifications for the debate stage by flexing his personal wealth and offering $20 gift cards to anyone who donated at least $1 to his campaign.<\/p>\n
To meet these standards, he needed donations from at least 40,000 national contributors and had to rank above 1 percent in three national polls or two national polls and a state poll.<\/p>\n
The RealClearPolitics average indicates that he currently has 0.6% support from Republicans nationally with 2% support each in Iowa and New Hampshire as well as 0.1% support in South Carolina according to FiveThirtyEight\u2019s survey compilation.<\/p>\n
He also enjoys considerable support back home; he currently has an approval rating of 56 percent among Roughrider State residents.<\/p>\n
Before being elected as governor in 2016, Burgum founded Great Plains Software in the 1980s which was later acquired by Microsoft for more than $1 billion.<\/p>\n
This padded his fortune with subsequent real estate ventures before departing from Microsoft in 2007.<\/p>\n
Since then, he has made some successful real estate investments as well.<\/p>\n
Prior to running for governor in 2016, Burgum held no previous political experience.<\/p>\n
Despite this lack of experience he trounced his Democratic opponent 77% to 19%, according to Ballotpedia.<\/p>\n
His success continued when he overwhelmingly secured re-election by 40 points during the 2020 campaign season and has maintained high approval ratings throughout his tenure as governor.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, it is unclear whether Governor Burgum will be able to stand up at the debate due to his injury – though if he does decide to take part despite this setback, it is likely that he won\u2019t be able to remain standing throughout the entire two-hour appearance.<\/p>\n
The eight other contenders on Wednesday night\u2019s stage will include Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.<\/p>\n
We wish Governor Burgum all the best as he recovers from this unfortunate situation.<\/p>\n
We hope that he can join us on stage soon so we can hear what ideas and policies he plans on bringing forward if elected president.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, however, I’m sure we can expect a very heated debate on August 23rd…many conservatives are looking forward to hearing what these Republican candidates have to offer.<\/p>\n