Central ND News

The North Dakota Office of the Secretary of State has announced that a petition seeking a special election for the District 42 House seat will not move forward. The petition, submitted on October 20, 2025, aimed to initiate a special election for the seat currently held by Dustin McNally.

A total of 726 signatures were collected and submitted by proponents. After review, only 612 signatures were accepted as valid, which is 44 short of the required threshold of 656 signatures. According to state requirements, this threshold represents four percent of the district’s population based on the 2020 census.

The office provided details about why some signatures were rejected: "31 – Circulator did not provide a complete residential address on the circulator affidavit. No signatures were accepted from this circulator. 75 – incomplete residential address. 1 – out-of-state address. 6 – no date of signature provided. 1 – illegible name."

Dustin McNally was appointed by the District 42 Republican Party on September 19, 2025, to fill a vacancy in the North Dakota House of Representatives following former Representative Emily O’Brien’s departure. The petition effort sought to allow voters to determine who would hold this seat until the next regular election.

Since the petition did not meet signature requirements, there will be no special election at this time. The District 42 House seat will instead appear on the ballot during the June 2026 Primary Election as an unexpired two-year term to fill out O’Brien’s remaining term. Interested candidates have until April 6, 2026, at 4 p.m., to file their candidacy paperwork with the Office of the Secretary of State for inclusion on that ballot.

If enough valid signatures had been gathered and verified, "it would have been forwarded to the Governor, who could have directed a special election to coincide either with a regularly scheduled primary or general election or to occur on a specific date of his choice."