North Dakota

Placeholder

Highest-power issue: Jail for regulatory offenses that require no criminal intent. Current recommendation: Toss-up.

1. Jail for regulatory offenses that require no criminal intent · power 100
2. Warrantless long-term location tracking · power 60
3. Emergency orders that criminalize peaceful trade and assembly · power 48
4. Qualified immunity when officials injure nonviolent people · power 18

Legislature

Placeholder

The legislature drafts the statute, sets the penalty and the mental state, funds the agencies, and can sunset an emergency power. On most of these issues it holds the text.

Jail for regulatory offenses that require no criminal intent

Placeholder. A business owner or a license holder can be jailed, or carry a criminal record, for breaking a rule that does not require knowledge or intent. The conduct is ordinary work. Sample entry for North Dakota.

Harm: 4
Reach: 5
Office impact: 5
Power: 100

Conduct 4 and penalty severity 3 (Misdemeanor, up to a year) blend 60/40 into harm 4. Power 100 = 4 × 5 × 5.

Who can act

The legislature writes the penalty, the mental state, and the budget. On the question of how severely the law punishes peaceful conduct, this is usually the office with the text in its hands. One seat matters only as part of a majority, which is what winnability has to reflect. On a missing mental-state element, the legislature is the only office that can put knowledge back into the code as a default rule. Placeholder analysis, not a description of any current officeholder.

Winnability is Hattie Quinn's chance in this office, 4 of 5. It is a property of the leading score, not of the statute. Hattie Quinn is fictional.

2026 legislative elections

Toss-up

Placeholder legislature race for the 2026 cycle in North Dakota. Candidates are fictional. Alignments come from the “close” profile so the mix of calls is reproducible.

Formula: Toss-up — The lead sits inside the toss-up gap. Leading score: Hattie Quinn. (The lead sits inside the toss-up gap.)

Each segment is issue power times alignment. Alignment runs from −1 to +1. Right of zero, the candidate would narrow the penalty. Left of zero, they would keep or expand it. Fictional candidates.

Fictional candidate

Otto Fisk

Cautious-reform placeholder · Winnability 3 · Score 50

Fictional placeholder. Not a real candidate. Cautious-reform placeholder.

Fictional candidate

Hattie Quinn

Incumbent-leaning placeholder · Winnability 4 · Score 57.5

Fictional placeholder. Not a real candidate. Incumbent-leaning placeholder.

Placeholder call for North Dakota, Legislature. The issue in this office is “Jail for regulatory offenses that require no criminal intent.” Editors mark a toss-up because the score gap between Hattie Quinn and Otto Fisk sits inside the toss-up threshold. The lead sits inside the toss-up gap. Hattie Quinn and Otto Fisk are fictional.

All calls for this state

Judiciary

Placeholder

Judges rule on warrants, constitutional limits, and how a penalty is applied. They do not rewrite a clear statute, and this scorecard does not ask them to.

Warrantless long-term location tracking

Placeholder. Agencies collect a person's movements for weeks without a warrant and use the file to prosecute nonviolent offenses. The tracking is the intrusion; the downstream penalty is often a felony. Sample entry for North Dakota.

Harm: 4
Reach: 3
Office impact: 5
Power: 60

Conduct 4 and penalty severity 4 (Felony imprisonment) blend 60/40 into harm 4. Power 60 = 4 × 3 × 5.

Who can act

Judges apply the text and the constitution. They can refuse an unreasonable search, limit a forfeiture, or strike a penalty that exceeds the charter. They cannot supply a mental state the legislature deleted. Office impact is high when the dispute is constitutional and low when the statute is plain. On location tracking, judges decide whether a warrant was required and whether the file can be used. This is their issue more than anyone else's. Placeholder analysis, not a description of any current officeholder.

Winnability is Quentin Daly's chance in this office, 1 of 5. It is a property of the leading score, not of the statute. Quentin Daly is fictional.

2026 judicial elections

Toss-up

Placeholder judiciary race for the 2026 cycle in North Dakota. Candidates are fictional. Alignments come from the “longshot” profile so the mix of calls is reproducible.

Formula: Toss-up — The better-aligned candidate is below the winnability floor. Leading score: Quentin Daly. (The better-aligned candidate is below the winnability floor.)

Each segment is issue power times alignment. Alignment runs from −1 to +1. Right of zero, the candidate would narrow the penalty. Left of zero, they would keep or expand it. Fictional candidates.

Fictional candidate

Quentin Daly

Limited-government placeholder · Winnability 1 · Score 24

Fictional placeholder. Not a real candidate. Limited-government placeholder.

Fictional candidate

June Marlow

Enforcement-first placeholder · Winnability 5 · Score -39

Fictional placeholder. Not a real candidate. Enforcement-first placeholder.

Placeholder call for North Dakota, Judiciary. The issue in this office is “Warrantless long-term location tracking.” Editors mark a toss-up because Quentin Daly has the better liberty alignment, and a winnability of 1, which is below the floor the coalition will endorse. The better-aligned candidate is below the winnability floor. Quentin Daly and June Marlow are fictional.

All calls for this state

Attorney general

Placeholder

The attorney general decides appeals, civil enforcement, and often whether the state will defend a statute. Charging power over ordinary crimes may sit with county attorneys. The entry says so when that split matters.

Emergency orders that criminalize peaceful trade and assembly

Placeholder scenario. During a declared emergency, an order makes it a crime to open a peaceful business or hold a peaceful gathering, with no separate violent act required. Sample entry for North Dakota.

Harm: 4
Reach: 4
Office impact: 3
Power: 48

Conduct 4 and penalty severity 3 (Misdemeanor, up to a year) blend 60/40 into harm 4. Power 48 = 4 × 4 × 3.

Who can act

An attorney general rarely rewrites a statute. The office decides which cases to bring, which appeals to pursue, which settlements to accept, and, in many states, whether to defend a statute at all. That is power over how a penalty is used, not over the fact that it exists. On an emergency order, the attorney general defends or declines to defend the order and advises agencies on how hard to enforce it. Placeholder analysis, not a description of any current officeholder.

Winnability is Pearl Harrow's chance in this office, 1 of 5. It is a property of the leading score, not of the statute. Pearl Harrow is fictional.

2026 attorney general election

Toss-up

Placeholder attorney general race for the 2026 cycle in North Dakota. Candidates are fictional. Alignments come from the “longshot” profile so the mix of calls is reproducible.

Formula: Toss-up — The better-aligned candidate is below the winnability floor. Leading score: Pearl Harrow. (The better-aligned candidate is below the winnability floor.)

Each segment is issue power times alignment. Alignment runs from −1 to +1. Right of zero, the candidate would narrow the penalty. Left of zero, they would keep or expand it. Fictional candidates.

Fictional candidate

Pearl Harrow

Limited-government placeholder · Winnability 1 · Score 19.2

Fictional placeholder. Not a real candidate. Limited-government placeholder.

Fictional candidate

Ivan Solberg

Enforcement-first placeholder · Winnability 5 · Score -31.2

Fictional placeholder. Not a real candidate. Enforcement-first placeholder.

Placeholder call for North Dakota, Attorney general. The issue in this office is “Emergency orders that criminalize peaceful trade and assembly.” Editors mark a toss-up because Pearl Harrow has the better liberty alignment, and a winnability of 1, which is below the floor the coalition will endorse. The better-aligned candidate is below the winnability floor. Pearl Harrow and Ivan Solberg are fictional.

All calls for this state

Governor

Placeholder

The governor signs or vetoes statutes, issues and withdraws executive orders, appoints agency heads, and proposes the budget. The office does not write a criminal penalty on its own.

Qualified immunity when officials injure nonviolent people

Placeholder. An official uses force or a seizure against a person who was not violent, and immunity ends the civil case before a jury sees it. The severity score treats the lost remedy as a property-level harm, not a prison term. That is an editorial judgment, and it is labeled as one. Sample entry for North Dakota.

Harm: 3
Reach: 3
Office impact: 2
Power: 18

Conduct 4 and penalty severity 2 (License, property, or forfeiture) blend 60/40 into harm 3. Power 18 = 3 × 3 × 2.

Who can act

A governor does not write the statute. The office can veto a penalty, refuse to expand it, appoint the people who enforce it, and propose the budget that feeds it. Where the harm lives in an order or an agency rule, the governor's pen is the direct instrument. On qualified immunity, a governor can set training and discipline inside the executive. The immunity doctrine itself is not an executive order. Placeholder analysis, not a description of any current officeholder.

Winnability is Mae Gable's chance in this office, 1 of 5. It is a property of the leading score, not of the statute. Mae Gable is fictional.

2026 gubernatorial election

Toss-up

Placeholder governor race for the 2026 cycle in North Dakota. Candidates are fictional. Alignments come from the “longshot” profile so the mix of calls is reproducible.

Formula: Toss-up — The better-aligned candidate is below the winnability floor. Leading score: Mae Gable. (The better-aligned candidate is below the winnability floor.)

Each segment is issue power times alignment. Alignment runs from −1 to +1. Right of zero, the candidate would narrow the penalty. Left of zero, they would keep or expand it. Fictional candidates.

Fictional candidate

Mae Gable

Limited-government placeholder · Winnability 1 · Score 7.2

Fictional placeholder. Not a real candidate. Limited-government placeholder.

Fictional candidate

Glen Harlow

Enforcement-first placeholder · Winnability 5 · Score -11.7

Fictional placeholder. Not a real candidate. Enforcement-first placeholder.

Placeholder call for North Dakota, Governor. The issue in this office is “Qualified immunity when officials injure nonviolent people.” Editors mark a toss-up because Mae Gable has the better liberty alignment, and a winnability of 1, which is below the floor the coalition will endorse. The better-aligned candidate is below the winnability floor. Mae Gable and Glen Harlow are fictional.

All calls for this state