Republicans are poised to nominate three incumbent legislators to run for re-election in Bismarck's District 47 on Monday, while Democrats in that district have had their convention come and go without nominating candidates.

Getting a nomination at a political convention is probably the most common way a candidate enters a race, but it is not the only way.

State law allows candidates to be nominated by the district's executive committee after the nominating convention takes place. Candidates also have options to make the ballot that doesn't include any type of party nomination.

Jim Fuglie, executive director of the Democratic-NPLParty, said sometimes candidates choose a strategy of waiting for the other party to make a move first.

"In many cases there's a waiting game in both parties, " Fuglie said.

Fuglie said a waiting game is occurring now in District 47 and other legislative districts. Fuglie said there will be Democratic candidates announcing soon in District 47.

For Republicans, their choices for candidates in District 47 likely will be no-brainers.

All three Republican incumbents, Reps. George Keiser, Lawrence Klemin and Sen. Ralph Kilzer, have said they want to run again, and no Republicans have announced they will oppose them.

Bob Christman, chairman of the District 47 Republicans, said District 47 is a Republican district and the incumbents have done a good job, which discourages competition.

"Our strategy is to say we have three incumbents that want to run again and we will support them,"Christman said.

Republicans in Districts 47 and 35 will endorse candidates on Monday night. Christman doesn't foresee any surprises in District 47, but there is a race in District 35 among incumbent Bob Martinson, Karen Karls and Fran Gronberg for two House seats.

Nominations delayed

In District 29, which includes Jamestown, Democrats have delayed their nominations.

Ruth Urdahl, chairwoman of District 29 Democrats, said their endorsing convention was supposed to occur Tuesday night, but it was delayed because they are still looking for candidates.

Urdahl said the decision to nominate candidates will be left up to the district committee.

"It has happened sometimes in the past,"Urdahl said. It's not an ideal situation, but it's not unheard of."

Any political party can use the nomination process to get candidates on the ballot, but the party has to be recognized by the state first.

Secretary of State Al Jaeger said there is a process in law that allows parties to be recognized, but only the Republican and Democrat parties are currently recognized.

"We have to treat everybody the same,"Jaeger said. "We do that. You just can't play favorites."

Getting a party's nomination is the most common way candidates get on the ballot, but it is not the only way.

Jaeger said most legislative candidates can get on the primary ballot by getting about 120 or 130 people to sign a petition. For legislative races, the law says that candidates must get signatures equal to 1 percent of the total population of the district. Each legislative district has approximately the same population, between 12,000 and 13,000.

Even if someone isn't endorsed by a party, the candidate can run in the primary by receiving enough signatures on a petition. But if a candidate loses in the primary, he or she can't run for the same position in the general election, even as an independent.

The primary election is June 13 this year and there is an April 17 deadline to make the ballot.

Rep. Sally Sandvig, a District 21 Democrat from Fargo, lost her party's endorsement to Jasper Schneider last month, and is considering getting on the ballot without a party endorsement.

The most recent case of a candidate running without a party nomination was the 2004 race for superintendent of public instruction.

Democrat Wayne Sanstead, the longtime incumbent, didn't receive the endorsement from the Democrats, but he ran anyway by petitioning to get on the ballot. Sanstead eventually won the primary, knocking Democrat Max Laird out the the general election. Sanstead then beat his Republican opponent in the general election.

Ken Karls, chairman of the Republican Party, said if people expect the support of the party they should go through the nominating process.

"To deny themselves the opportunity is foolishness,"Karls said.

Sanstead said most voters probably aren't aware of how the process works.

"Unless there's an explosive issue, the public doesn't pay attention to the whole process,"Sanstead said.

(Reach reporter Tom Rafferty at 223-8482 or tom.rafferty@;bismarcktribune.com.)