BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota’s lieutenant governor joined the state’s open gubernatorial race on Thursday, setting up a Republican contest against the state’s single congressman.

Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller, former CEO of electrical distributor Border States, is running to succeed Gov. Doug Burgum, who announced last month he won’t seek a third term. Miller had been chief operating officer for Burgum’s office from 2020-2022, before he appointed her to replace the resigning Lt. Gov. Brent Sanford, who joined the private sector.

She’ll be up against Republican Rep. Kelly Armstrong, an attorney and former state senator who holds North Dakota’s single seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

While North Dakota’s dominant Republican Party will endorse candidates for statewide offices at its convention in April in Fargo, Miller told the North Dakota Monitor she will not participate in the convention. “I am going to skip the convention and go right to the primary and allow every voter in North Dakota to have a voice in choosing the next governor,” Miller said.

Democrat Travis Hipsher, a security guard, and independent Michael Coachman, an Air Force veteran, also recently announced their gubernatorial bids.