2024 dark horse GOP presidential candidate Doug Burgum launches campaign with $3 million ad buy

Washington —North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who joined the rapidly growing field of 2024 Republican presidential contenders this week, is making his first TV and radio ad buy as a candidate — a $3 million blitz that will air in the early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire market over the next two weeks, according to his campaign.

The buy will be a mix of 60-second spots that are a shorter version of Burgum's announcement video and 15-second spots that "emphasize his focus on the economy, energy and national security," according to a Burgum spokesman.

Burgum, a long-shot candidate for the GOP nomination, announced his presidential bid at a campaign rally in Fargo, North Dakota, Wednesday.

"We need a leader who understands the real work that Americans do every day. Someone who's worked alongside our farmers or ranchers and our small business owners," Burgum said at his Wednesday. "Someone who's held jobs where you shower at the end of the day, and not at the beginning."

The former software CEO, whose net worth hovers around $1 billion, plans to utilize his deep pockets to self-fund his candidacy, according to sources close to the North Dakota governor.