North Dakota state legislative candidate who died of COVID-19 wins election

A North Dakota state legislative candidate who died of coronavirus last month won his Tuesday election.

Republican David Andahl, who was 55 when he died, and another GOP candidate, Dave Nehring, were elected to represent the 8th district in the state’s House of Representatives.

The district has two representatives — and both Andahl and Nehring bested their two Democratic challengers.

Andahl died after being hospitalized with the illness for about four days, his mother, Pat Andahl, had told The Bismarck Times.

The mother said her son was “very careful” about the pandemic and eager to become an elected official.

“He had a lot of feelings for his county … and wanting to make things better, and his heart was in farming. He wanted things better for farmers and the coal industry,” she said.