{"id":23873,"date":"2022-02-03T16:49:20","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T22:49:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/?p=23873"},"modified":"2026-06-22T16:00:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T21:00:31","slug":"wayne-stenehjem-a-north-dakota-original-even-at-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2022\/02\/wayne-stenehjem-a-north-dakota-original-even-at-23\/","title":{"rendered":"Wayne Stenehjem: A North Dakota original, even at 23"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a UND law student and N.D. House candidate, Stenehjem showed the traits that now have inspired a scholarship endowment in his name\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
This ad for Wayne Stenehjem, candidate to represent District 42 in the North Dakota House, ran in the Dakota Student on Oct. 21, 1976. Age 23 and a UND law student at the time, Stenehjem won that race and went on to become attorney general of North Dakota. Dakota Student microfilm reels\/Chester Fritz Library.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For years, UND has organized a bus trip around the state for new faculty members and administrators. And for years, a highlight of the tour took place at the Capitol in Bismarck, where, if Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem was in the building, he\u2019d invite all 30 to 40 participants into his office to chat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d see him, and he\u2019d wave us over, saying, \u2018C\u2019mon in!\u2019\u201d said Fred Wittmann, UND\u2019s director of ceremonies and university events. Afterward, the UND newcomers \u2013 academics from across the United States \u2013 would exit wide-eyed, dazzled by Stenehjem\u2019s friendliness, hospitality and good humor. \u201cThey\u2019d ask, \u2018That\u2019s the attorney general?\u2019\u201d Wittmann recalled.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Wayne Stenehjem<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019d say, \u2018Welcome to North Dakota!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

From across the state, tributes to Wayne Stenehjem have poured in, all of them saying he embodied North Dakota in a way that made North Dakotans especially proud. Stenehjem, who died unexpectedly on Jan. 28 at age 68, was \u201cthe best North Dakota had to offer,\u201d<\/a> wrote Forum Communications columnist Rob Port. Mike Jacobs, former editor and publisher of the Grand Forks Herald, wrote that \u201calready, North Dakota feels emptier without him.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

The Grand Forks Herald carried a lovely tribute under the headline, \u201cGrand Forks remembers Wayne Stenehjem as ‘great North Dakotan’ who wanted to ‘greater good for the people’\u201d.<\/a> The Bismarck Tribune\u2019s editorial called \u201cStenehjem the definition of public servant.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

And this week, the tributes took practical form, as Stenehjem\u2019s family and friends asked the UND Alumni Association & Foundation to set up a scholarship endowment in Stenehjem’s honor.<\/p>\n

Stenehjem was a graduate of both UND and the UND School of Law, and never forgot his roots in Grand Forks, noted DeAnna Carlson Zink, the Association and Foundation\u2019s CEO.<\/p>\n

\u201cWayne was such a good friend to the University of North Dakota,\u201d Carlson Zink said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so thankful to have known him and to have him as a prime example of what can be accomplished with a UND degree. What a great role model for our students.\u201d<\/p>\n

(For more information or to make a gift in Stenehjem\u2019s memory, visit the scholarship fund\u2019s webpage, undalumni.org\/wayne<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\"\"
On Oct. 28, 1976, the Grand Forks Herald ran this chart describing the District 42 House and Senate candidates, who included 23-year-old Wayne Stenehjem. Grand Forks Herald microfilm reels, Chester Fritz Library.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Candidate and law student<\/h2>\n

Moreover, not only did Stenehjem graduate from and retain ties to UND throughout his lifetime, but also he started his statewide political career here \u2013 literally, on campus.<\/p>\n

In 1976, Stenehjem ran for the North Dakota House as a candidate to represent District 42, the district that includes UND. He was a second-year student in the UND School of Law at the time.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s what this story is about. UND Today visited the Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections at UND\u2019s Chester Fritz Library, to scroll through microfilmed copies of the Grand Forks Herald and the Dakota Student. We wanted to learn more about the 23-year-old, who \u2013 though he was new to legislative politics — beat two incumbents, both of them with strong UND ties.<\/p>\n

What we found is that the young man was the father of the older man, the one whom North Dakotans came to honor and respect. Because judging by the press accounts and the race\u2019s results, young Stenehjem ran his campaign with hard work, intelligence and good humor, the very traits he continued to show in public service for the next 46 years, as this week\u2019s tributes attest.<\/p>\n

\"\"
On April 29, 1976, Wayne Stenehjem’s name appeared on a front page in a political context for what might have been the first time. Dakota Student microfilm files, Chester Fritz Library.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first time Wayne Stenehjem\u2019s name appeared on a front page in a political context may have been April 29, 1976. That\u2019s when the Dakota Student ran a story about the upcoming District 42 contest under the headline, \u201cSogard, Stenehjem in legislative race.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the story, the DS introduces readers to \u201cWayne Stenehjem, a second-year law student from Bismarck,\u201d who\u2019d just been endorsed by the North Dakota Republican Party for the race. Stenehjem would be on the GOP ticket with incumbent Rep. Art Raymond, the first head of the Department of Indian Studies at UND.<\/p>\n

The other incumbent from District 42 was Rep. Ben Gustafson, 73, a retired dean and professor of chemistry at UND. He\u2019d be running for re-election on the Democratic-NPL Party ticket, which he shared with JoAnn McCaffrey, a teacher at Schroeder Junior High.<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t count the 23-year-old Stenehjem out just yet, the DS story seemed to suggest. For Stenehjem already had served as state teenage Republican chairman, president of the College Republicans at UND and chairman of the Grand Forks voter survey \u2013 clearly no novice to politics, despite his youth.<\/p>\n

When the next academic year began in September, Stenehjem \u2013 by then a third-year law student \u2013 started right away to campaign. In fact \u2013 and in a preview of the loyalty and support he\u2019d inspire over the years \u2013 he\u2019d already enlisted 80 volunteers, and with his team had started knocking on the district\u2019s doors, the Dakota Student reported on Sept. 16.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Wayne Stenehjem ran this ad in the Dakota Student in October 1976 as part of Stenehjem’s campaign for North Dakota House. Dakota Student microfilm reels, Chester Fritz Library.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The age factor<\/h2>\n

Dakota Student readers got to know Stenehjem a bit better in October, thanks to an Oct. 21 profile under the headline, \u201cStenehjem studies law, campaigns.\u201d Here\u2019s the first paragraph, and we can picture Stenehjem delivering the punch line with his trademark hearty laugh:<\/p>\n

\u201cHow does a third-year law student find time to campaign for district representative? According to Wayne Stenehjem, Republican candidate for the state House in District 42, the trick is to sleep as little as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Remarkably, Stenehjem in the story uses the same political judo that Ronald Reagan would make famous (against Walter Mondale) in the 1984 presidential race. Asked if his youth would be held against him in the campaign, Stenehjem answered, \u201cMy age will be no more a problem for me than Ben Gustafson\u2019s will be for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Incumbent Democrat Gustafson, you\u2019ll recall, was 73. More important, he\u2019d missed 193 roll calls during the previous session \u2013 a fact that the Dakota Student cited on Oct. 28, when it endorsed Stenehjem for the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoAnn McCaffrey and Wayne Stenehjem have emerged as the strongest candidates for the state House race in District 42,\u201d the DS editorialized.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth are hard-working, both are progressive and both are running for the first time. Their idealism \u2013 even if it stems from political naivete \u2013 would enliven the North Dakota Legislature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Come Election Day, Stenehjem came in first in District 42 with 3,663 votes. McCaffrey was second with 3,187 \u2013 and that meant voters had ousted incumbents Raymond and Gustafson, both of whom polled in the 2,700 to 2,900 range.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an excerpt from the Herald\u2019s post election-day story, in which Stenehjem shows that he\u2019d be bringing to North Dakota politics not only competitiveness and a solid work ethic, but also a certain grace:<\/p>\n

\u201cStenehjem, 23, said he \u2018knocked on just about every door in the district.\u2019 He received 1,227 votes in the student-dominated second precinct of the First Ward, where Gustafson, 73, received only 584 votes.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019I hate to say it, but I think age was a factor,\u2019 Stenehjem said. \u2018But I think very highly of Ben Gustafson.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Newspaper<\/a>
On Sept. 1, 1977, the Dakota Student ran this story, in which North Dakota House Rep. Wayne Stenehjem — who’d been elected the previous year — looks back on his first legislative session. Click on the image for an easier-to-read, higher-resolution version. Dakota Student microfilm reels, Chester Fritz Library.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

‘A valuable member’<\/h2>\n

So Mr. Stenehjem went to Bismarck. And he made a big impression, even in those early days.<\/p>\n

On Feb. 17, 1977, longtime Williston, N.D., attorney and legislator Dean Winkjer wrote to the Dakota Student, as follows:<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Wayne Stenehjem\u2019s constituents should know what a fine job he is doing for them in Bismarck.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am chairman of the House Judiciary Committee on which Rep. Stenehjem serves. He is a valuable member of the committee. He is knowledgeable and studies the issues to be considered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe landlord-tenant bill which Rep. Stenehjem introduced was heard by the Judiciary Committee, and he did a good job of presenting it.\u201d Not bad, considering that Stenehjem was still a third-year law student, and was only six weeks into his first legislative session at the time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a UND law student and N.D. House candidate, Stenehjem showed the traits that now have inspired a scholarship endowment in his name\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":23889,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[38,21],"class_list":["post-23873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-around-und","tag-alumni-association-foundation","tag-law"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWayne Stenehjem: A North Dakota original, even at 23 - UND Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2022\/02\/wayne-stenehjem-a-north-dakota-original-even-at-23\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wayne Stenehjem: A North Dakota original, even at 23 - UND Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As a UND law student and N.D. 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