(CSi)  ND Speaker of the House, Rep. Kim Koppelman, announced that he will not seek re-election, following the District 13 Republican Endorsing Convention.

He issued the following statement: “I announced last evening, before the vote, that I would not run for the Republican nomination in the June Primary election, although I believe I could win such a race. This is not about me. I have always believed that one should run for office in order to do something, not in order to be something.”

Having served for many years and accomplished much, I had seriously considered retiring from the Legislature this year and it was only the strong encouragement from constituents and
legislative colleagues which prompted me to throw my hat in the ring, once more. I even considered withdrawing as a candidate before last night’s meeting, but did not feel that would have been fair to the many who gave of their time and money to attend and support me.”

“Torey and I are at peace with the decision to retire and are grateful, beyond words, for the love and support of so many in West Fargo and throughout North Dakota. Representing our community and state in the Legislature has truly been a labor of love and we now look forward to completing my term as Speaker of the House and to the next chapter, whatever the Good
Lord may have in store.”

The North Dakota House of Representatives elected Rep. Kim Koppelman (R, West Fargo) as Speaker of the House in 2020. He had emerged earlier from a three-way race in the Republican caucus before being elected by the full House of Representatives. He is the firstSpeaker in state history to hail from West Fargo and has served in many other leadership roles.

Rep. Koppelman was first elected in 1994. The long-time Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, he previously chaired the Constitutional Revision and Administrative Rules Committees. He was elected the national Chairman of the Council of State Governments (CSG), made up of all three branches of government in all 50 states, in 2008. He currently chairs the Interim Judiciary Committee and serves on Legislative Management, the Budget Section, the Legislative Procedures and Arrangements Committee, the Juvenile Justice Commission and the Children’s Cabinet. Nationally, he chairs the CSG Shared Legislation Committee as well as the Civil Justice Task Force and the Regulatory State Reform Committee of the American Legislative Exchange Council. He also serves on the Executive Committees of the Council of StateGovernments and the Midwest Legislative Conference.


Speaker Koppelman will complete his term of office in December. He retires as the senior member of the North Dakota House of Representatives from Cass County.