Gov. Doug Burgum’s campaign gives out gift cards to donors in order to send him to the first Republican debate

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - The first Republican debate is a little over a month away. There are a few requirements to get on that stage, one of them being you need at least 40,000 unique donors.

This week Governor Doug Burgum’s campaign started offering $20 gift cards for donations as low as one dollar. All this to try to make it to the first Republican debate on August 23.

Rick Becker, a former state representative, wants to see Burgum on that stage and that’s why he’s donating.

“I think that would be enjoyable for all North Dakotans to see and give him (Burgum) that opportunity,” said Becker.

In order to purchase the gift card you have to log on to the Doug Burgum website where it will ask you to put your credit card information in. It will then take you to a website where you can donate even more to the campaign. You will then get a confirmation email that says thanks for the donation, your card will be in the mail in a few weeks. Beker says this may be a tactic of desperation for the Burgum campaign.

“I didn’t think he was going to have a problem getting the 40,000 individual contributors but going to this gift card model, I think they are probably struggling. I think this is probably the beginning of the end of his campaign,” said Becker.

If you take $19 times 40,000 donors it comes to $760,000. But Burgum didn’t stop at 40,000. He’s offering gift cards to 50,000 donors.

“If he gets on the debate stage and that begins this process where he can start to climb and get more recognition, then it’s absolutely worth it. To get on the debate stage is invaluable,” said Becker.

Becker says he thinks 40,000 individual contributors is a threshold used to ensure that a presidential candidate has a broad enough base of people who know and support that them. He thinks Burgum is working around this by buying contributors.

“It’s a financial incentive rather than an incentive that I like this candidate. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some rules change, and I think we should so that type of activity is prohibited,” said Becker.

In the meantime, Becker is waiting for his gift card to arrive.

One shipment of gift cards has already been sent out. Burgum’s campaign says they could reach the 40,000-donor threshold soon.

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