Yet Another Republican Enters The Race Against Trump, As The Already Crowded 2024 Field Gets Even More Cramped

"I started a shoe-shine business, worked at the grain elevator, and as a chimney sweep, paid my way through college and then earned an MBA at Stanford," Burgum said. "I ignored those who said North Dakota was too small, too cold, and too remote to build a world-class software company, so I literally bet the farm to help build a tiny start-up into a billionaire dollar company with customers in 132 countries. A kid from small-town North Dakota. That is America."

As the New York Times previously reported, "After earning his M.B.A. at Stanford, Mr. Burgum joined Great Plains Software, a Fargo company that specialized in accounting software, and quickly rose to chief executive. Far from the more fertile tech hubs of Silicon Valley, Mr. Burgum built Great Plains Software into a major industry player, eventually selling to Microsoft for $1.1 billion. He would then serve as a senior vice president at Microsoft until 2007."

Burgum continued, saying, "Today, America is facing new challenges and how we respond will define our future. We need new leadership for our changing economy, innovation over regulation, instead of shutting down American oil and gas, we should unleash energy production and start selling energy to our allies instead of buying it from our enemies."

He also called for lowering taxes and shrinking the size of our federal government -- hoping to "return power to the states." He appealed to his successes in North Dakota -- arguing his record on the economy and ability to listen would help to bring Americans together once more. 

As the Daily Caller News Foundation previously reported, "Burgum had no previous political experience before running for governor in 2016, where he handily won by nearly 60 points, according to Ballotpedia. The governor overwhelmingly secured reelection in 2020, beating his Democratic opponent 65.8% to 25.4%."

This is a surprising addition to the already crowded Republican 2024 field.