Burgum will wait before appointing Stenehjem’s successor

BISMARCK, N.D. – North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum won’t discuss who he will appoint to serve out the remainder of Wayne Stenehjem’s term until after the funeral of the longtime attorney general.

Stenehjem died Friday at age 68, just a month after announcing his plans to retire at the end of this year. The public funeral is set for Thursday.  He was a former legislator and the state’s longest-serving attorney general.

Stenehjem is the first statewide official to die in office since U.S. Sen. Quentin Burdick in 1992. Then-Gov. George Sinner appointed Burdick’s widow, Jocelyn, to fill the expired term until a special election was held.