FARGO, N.D. (AP) - The Latest on the second day of the North Dakota Republican convention taking place in Fargo (all times local):
6:45 p.m.
North Dakota state Treasurer Kelly Schmidt has the state Republican convention’s blessing to run for re-election.
GOP delegates unanimously endorsed Schmidt on Saturday to run for her fourth term. She had no opposition.
Schmidt was elected North Dakota’s 33rd state treasurer in November 2004. She was re-elected in 2008 and 2012.
The treasurer’s office distributes some tax collections to local governments. The treasurer also serves on state boards that oversee government pensions and state land management.
The office has eight employees. It’s the smallest state office headed by an elected official. It has survived past attempts to abolish the agency and distribute its duties among other agencies.
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6:30 p.m.
Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak has the approval of Republican convention delegates to run for a four-year term.
Fedorchak went unchallenged for the endorsement on Saturday in Fargo.
Gov. Jack Dalrymple appointed Fedorchak to fill the seat in 2012, after it had been vacated by Republican Kevin Cramer who was elected to the U.S. House. She was elected to a two-year term in 2014.
The three-member commission regulates coal mining, land reclamation, pipelines, electric and gas utilities, grain elevators, telecommunications and auctioneers.
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6:10 p.m.
North Dakota Republicans are backing incumbent Kirsten Baesler (KEER’-stin BAYZ’-lur) for her second term as state school superintendent.
Baesler defeated for Four Winds High School teacher Joe Chiang for GOP support for the job. The vote was 728 to 631 in Baesler’s favor.
Republicans are holding their state convention in Fargo this weekend.
Baesler is a former Bismarck school administrator and past president of the Mandan school board. She was elected state school superintendent in 2012, replacing Wayne Sanstead, who retired after 28 years in the job.
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4:05 p.m.
North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem (STEN’-jem) has won the endorsement of Republican convention delegates to run for governor.
Stenehjem beat Bismarck state Rep. Rick Becker and Fargo businessman Doug Burgum on Saturday to replace Gov. Jack Dalrymple, who is not seeking re-election.
It took two ballots for Stenehjem to win the endorsement of delegates. Stenehjem got more than 50 percent of the votes from GOP convention delegates on the second day of the party’s three-day convention.
He was trailed by Becker and Burgum, who has promised to take an abnormal step and still run in the June primary.
North Dakota Democrats have endorsed State Rep. Marvin Nelson of Rolla as their choice for governor.
North Dakota has not had a Democratic governor since 1992.
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3:36 p.m.
The North Dakota Republican convention in Fargo was delayed Saturday after an attendee had an apparent heart attack on the convention floor.
The convention-goer, identified as Tim Mueller, collapsed shortly after 10 a.m. while Gov. Jack Dalrymple was onstage delivering a speech to the more than 1,600 delegates.
Mueller is the father-in-law of state auditor candidate Joshua Gallion, who will be competing Sunday for the GOP nomination.
Emergency workers tended to Mueller for about 15 minutes before being taken to a hospital. The incident prompted a prayer from delegates. Dalrymple called for a moment of silence before resuming his speech.
GOP party chairman Kelly Armstrong told delegates that Mueller was in stable condition Saturday afternoon.
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3:14 p.m.
None of the three men vying for Republicans’ nod for North Dakota governor has received enough votes to lock an endorsement.
The North Dakota Republican governor nomination was destined for a second ballot Saturday afternoon in Fargo.
Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem got 769 got votes from GOP convention delegates on the second day of the party’s three-day convention. His total was 47 percent of the votes tallied.
Bismarck state Rep. Rick Becker got 587 votes, or 36 percent. Fargo businessman Doug Burgum trailed with 247 votes, or 15 percent of the total.
Candidates need at least 817 votes, a majority of the 1,632 delegates registered, to win.
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2:26 p.m.
Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz told attendees at the North Dakota Republican convention that their presidential delegates could decide the nomination.
North Dakota convention-goers on Sunday are scheduled to select 25 of their 28 national delegates. Cruz said during his keynote address Saturday that it is “entirely possible” for the state’s unbound delegates to determine the “entire primary.”
Cruz declined to meet with reporters afterward and didn’t answer when asked how he felt about his chances of winning over North Dakota delegates.
Polls show Cruz with a comfortable lead over Donald Trump heading into Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary.
Cruz received his loudest ovation when he told attendees that North Dakota has become “a powerful energy haven” and he is going to keep the federal government “the heck out of the way.”
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10:54 a.m.
Republican John Hoeven has the blessing of state Republicans to run for another U.S. Senate term.
Hoeven went unchallenged for the endorsement on Saturday in Fargo.
Hoeven was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010, making him the state’s first Republican senator in a quarter-century.
Hoeven is a former North Dakota governor and the only one in state history to win three four-year terms.
The second day of the at the North Dakota GOP convention kicked off Saturday morning at the Scheels Arena in Fargo.
Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is the convention’s keynote speaker on Saturday. Former presidential hopeful Ben Carson is speaking Sunday.
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