The incumbent, North Dakota Democratic NPL Party (Dem-NPL) Senator Quentin Burdick, sought and received re-election to his fifth term, defeating Republican candidate Gene Knorr.

After being defeated, Knorr moved to Washington, D.C., where he took the position of staff vice president with Philip Morris International.

One independent candidate, Anna B. Bourgois, also filed before the deadline, running under her self-created party titled God, Family, and Country.

Bourgois would later run for North Dakota's other United States Senate seat, an independent in 1986, challenging Mark Andrews.

He began working in Washington, D.C., residing in McLean, Virginia, after receiving a Juris Doctor from Northwestern University, where he was celebrated in debate.