Occupation Farmer Name Dwight Grotberg | Role Politician Spouse Alison Grotberg | |
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Born January 26, 1967 (age 57) ( 1967-01-26 ) Parents Richard and Linda Grotberg Political party North Dakota Republican Party | ||
Dwight Grotberg (born January 26, 1967) is a North Dakota politician and a former Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in North Dakota. He lost to the Democratic-NPL incumbent, Kent Conrad, on November 7, 2006. Grotberg is an Anderson, North Dakota town councilman and a farmer from Sanborn in Barnes County.
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Grotberg received the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat in North Dakota at the state GOP convention in late March 2006. Despite running for office in the historically conservative state of North Dakota, Grotberg faced a difficult campaign due to the Senator's name recognition, long tenure in office, available funds, and popularity.
Biography
Dwight Grotberg was born in 1967 and raised on a farm near Wimbledon, North Dakota. After graduating from high school, he traveled to Parana, Brazil and worked at a livestock and grain farm run by a mission organization dedicated to training indigenous people to be self-sufficient and industrious.
After returning home, Grotberg enrolled in Bethany College of Missions and graduated with a degree in Cross-Cultural Studies. He then traveled to New Zealand and worked on farms in the Bay of Islands to gain a global perspective of farming and its methodologies.
In 1989, he returned to North Dakota and attended North Dakota State University to study agricultural economics until 1992. He then moved back to Wimbledon and built a farm of his own on which he currently resides. In 1989, Grotberg married his wife, Alison. They have seven children together, all are currently homeschooled. In 1996, he suffered a spinal cord injury when his tractor was struck by a semi-truck.
2006 Senate race
Grotberg sought and received the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in North Dakota at the state GOP convention on March 28, 2006 against the Democratic-NPL incumbent Kent Conrad, who had served since 1986. During the summer of 2006, Grotberg started a large grassroots campaign called Grotberg Grassroots. Governor of North Dakota John Hoeven officially announced his endorsement of Grotberg on October 9, 2006. Former North Dakota governor Edward Schafer also announced his endorsement and was quoted as saying "Dwight carries the strong family values that are so dear to North Dakotans." Author and commentator David Limbaugh also expressed his support of Grotberg and gave a speech at his campaign fundraiser in Fargo, North Dakota. Grotberg placed billboards throughout the state in early October 2006 and began airing television ads in late October. He lost the election 30% to 68%.
Positions on the issues
Dwight Grotberg was very outspoken about keeping the current tax cuts made under the Bush Administration and also supports abolition of the estate tax. On social issues, Grotberg claimed that his conservative viewpoints are more reflective of North Dakota than the views of incumbent Kent Conrad. For example, in 2004, North Dakota voters approved a state ban on gay marriage, while Senator Conrad voted no on a constitutional ban of gay marriage.
Campaign funding
Because Grotberg faced a popular twenty-year incumbent, he had difficulty raising adequate amounts of money to compete with the money that Kent Conrad received. Conrad had raised $5.9 million dollars by September 30, 2006. Grotberg raised a little over $85,000 dollars by September 30.