North Dakota's newly re-elected state Republican chairman is hoping the party will have candidates for the U.S. Senate and House by early September.

Gary Emineth said Tuesday that early GOP entrants into both races are important if Republicans are to have a chance at displacing Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan and Rep. Earl Pomeroy.

North Dakota Republican activists re-elected Emineth last weekend to a second two-year term as the party's chairman.

Emineth says one of his top goals is to coax Republican Gov. John Hoeven into a race against Dorgan. Hoeven won't talk about the possibility. He won his third term last year with 74 percent of the vote.

- Associated Press