Governor-Elect Doug Burgum holds first press conference after winning election

Governor-Elect Doug Burgum and Lt. Governor-Elect Brent Sanford answered questions on major issues facing the state, the Dakota Access Pipeline, the budget and their transition with the outgoing administration in Fargo.

In their first press conference since winning the election, Burgum told reporters that he won't have a lot of time to look over Gov. Jack Dalrymple's budget before the session, but will start to work more closely with them soon.

Dalrymple will submit a budget expected to be 10 percent smaller than the previous budget on Dec. 7. Burgum will be sworn in Dec. 15.

On the Dakota Access Pipeline, Burgum leaned on the current administration, saying it's a fluid situation.

As governor and lieutenant governor-elect, we're not part of that decision making chain until Dec. 16, and so we need to give our full support to the current administration and not second guess any decisions that they might be making at this point in time," said Burgum.

"We're very honored to have this opportunity to work for the state of North Dakota, for its people. We're so excited to move forward and bring a business leader to Bismarck. We feel our campaign resonated. We feel the people of North Dakota are ready for this change," said Sanford.

Burgum also doubled down on his promise to refuse a salary, saying if he had to, he'd accept it and then donate it back.