From Tribune staff and wire reports

Gov. John Hoeven and Rep. Earl Pomeroy easily won re-election Tuesday.

And longtime Superintendent of Public Instruction Wayne Sanstead defeated Max Laird. The office is listed on the nonpartisan ballot.

"I'm a happy warrior, I've been a happy warrior for some time," Sanstead said of his close win.

He noted that his rival spent six times more than he did on his campaign.

"I never win on money," he said. Having been in government for 44 years, it's name recognition and reputation he wins with, he said.

Republicans were dominating the races for state offices, while voters rejected two measures and apparently approved two.

In the closest race, Republican Adam Hamm and Democrat Jasper Schneider were in a too-close-to-call battle for insurance commissioner.

Incumbents won contests for treasurer and auditor.

Bob Peterson, the Republican auditor, defeated Daryl Splichal. And Republican Kelly Schmidt retained the treasurer's office in her battle with Mitch Vance.

In the race to replace retiring Public Service Commissioner Susan Wefald, Republican Brian Kalk was leading Democrat Cheryl Bergian.

Hoeven had no problem with Sen. Tim Mathern. He built an early lead and romped to victory Tuesday night.

Hoeven defeated Heidi Heitkamp in 2000 and Joe Satrom in 2004, winning 71 percent of the vote in his last election.

Pomeroy, 56, defeated Republican Duane Sand. Pomeroy has coasted through his last three elections for U.S. House, also defeating Sand in 2004 and GOP challenger Matt Mechtel in 2006 with 66 percent of the vote.

It was Sand's third campaign; he lost to Pomeroy in 2004 and Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad in 2000.

Voters also decided on four measures.

Measure 1 which would establish a permanent trust fund for surplus oil taxes, and Measure 2 which would cut North Dakota's individual and corporate income tax rates, both went down to defeat.

Voters were approving Measure 3, which would set aside more than $9 million a year from a North Dakota lawsuit settlement against tobacco companies to pay for anti-smoking programs.

Measure 4 was approved. It puts the governor in charge of appointing the director of the Workforce Safety and Insurance Agency. An appointed board now has charge of the job.