Jonathan Godfread (born 1981/1982) is an American politician from the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

. A member of the Republican Party, he is the

North Dakota Insurance Commissioner The North Dakota insurance commissioner regulates the insurance industry in North Dakota, United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. I ...

, and has served in the role since 2016.

Early life and career

Godfread is from

Grand Forks, North Dakota Grand Forks is a city in and the county seat of Grand Forks County, North Dakota, United States. The city's population was 59,166 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in North Dakota, third-most populous ...

. He attended Red River High School, and played for the school's basketball team. He graduated in 2000. He committed to attend the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

to play

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Utah Utes men's basketball The Utah Utes men's basketball team, also known as the Runnin' Utes, represents the University of Utah as an NCAA Division I program that plays in the Big-12 Conference, Big-12. They play their home games at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The schoo ...

team. After taking a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

for Utah in his freshman year, he decided to transfer to the

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States. UNI offers more than 90 majors across five colleges. The fall 2024 total enrollment was 9,283 students. The university was initially founded in 1 ...

. He played college basketball for the

Northern Iowa Panthers The Northern Iowa Panthers are the athletic teams of the University of Northern Iowa. The university is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference and competes in NCAA Division I (Division I FCS in football). History The school's mascot is the ...

, who qualified for the

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...

in 2004 and 2005. Godfread graduated from Northern Iowa in 2005. After his college basketball career, Godfread played professionally in Germany for the Ehingen Urspring of

ProA The ProA is the German basketball league system, second-tier Sports league, league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 16 teams. Officially the ProA is part of the ''2. Basketball Bundesliga'', which consists of the t ...

for one season. Godfread returned to the United States and enrolled at the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (UND) is a Public university, public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. It was established by the Dakota Territory, Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishm ...

, where he graduated with a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

and

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

in 2011. He worked for Alerus Financial and served as vice president for the Greater North Dakota Chamber.

Political career

After the

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

, Adam Hamm, announced he would not seek reelection in 2016, Godfread announced his candidacy to succeed him. Godfread was elected state insurance commissioner, defeating Democrat

Ruth Buffalo Ruth Anna Buffalo is an American people, American politician who served as a member of the North Dakota House of Representatives from the 27th District, from December 1, 2018 to December 1, 2022. She is the first Native American Democratic Party ...

. As Insurance Commissioner, Godfread supported

Wayne Stenehjem Wayne Stenehjem ( ; February 5, 1953 – January 28, 2022) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 29th Attorney General of North Dakota from 2000 until his death in 2022. He sought the Republican nomination for governor of Nort ...

's decision to join '' California v. Texas'', opposing the constitutionality of the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...

. Godfread was reelected unopposed in in 2020 and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Personal life

Godfread and Amanda (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Hvidsten) became engaged in 2011. They married and have three children. After ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

'' certified Robert Cornegy as the World's Tallest Politician in January 2019, Godfread challenged the record. In November, ''Guinness World Records'' certified Godfread as the World's Tallest Politician at , surpassing Cornegy, who was measured at .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Godfread, Jon American expatriate basketball people in Germany Basketball players from North Dakota Ehingen Urspring players Insurance commissioners of North Dakota Living people North Dakota Republicans Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball players Politicians from Grand Forks, North Dakota Sportspeople from Grand Forks, North Dakota University of North Dakota alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century North Dakota politicians Red River High School alumni