Governor appoints adviser to lead North Dakota’s largest state agency
Gov. Kelly Armstrong has appointed a longtime aide to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, North Dakota’s largest state agency. Conner Swanson has been a senior adviser to Armstrong since he took office in December 2024. Before that, he was a policy adviser and communications director for Armstrong from 2020-2024, when Armstrong was […]
Gov. Kelly Armstrong has appointed a longtime aide to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, North Dakota’s largest state agency.
Conner Swanson has been a senior adviser to Armstrong since he took office in December 2024. Before that, he was a policy adviser and communications director for Armstrong from 2020-2024, when Armstrong was North Dakota’s sole U.S. House member. His appointment takes effect Aug. 29.
Swanson will be tasked with leading an agency comprising a $5.7 billion two-year budget and more than 2,000 employees. The department in the last year has been busy managing measles cases, rolling out rafts of federal money aimed at improving rural health care and implementing federal changes to Medicaid and food assistance programs.
Swanson succeeds Pat Traynor, who began as interim HHS commissioner in June 2025, and will return to his job as executive director of the Dakota Medical Foundation, from which he had taken a civil service leave.
Traynor’s annual salary was $250,000; Swanson will earn $225,000 annually, according to the Governor’s Office.
“From Capitol Hill to the State Capitol, Conner has navigated complex policy issues with skill and a depth of understanding that will serve North Dakotans well – a great example being his behind-the-scenes leadership on the Rural Health Transformation Program that is deploying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants to improve health outcomes across our state,” Armstrong said in a statement.
Swanson also has served as a senior adviser to the U.S. House Budget Committee and in the U.S. Interior Department during the first Trump administration. He also was assistant to the North Dakota House Republican Majority Leader Al Carlson, in 2015. He has a master’s degree in natural resources management from North Dakota State University.
“Since December 2024, I’ve worked closely with the department through my role with the Governor’s Office,” Swanson said in a statement. “I have seen firsthand their commitment to the mission and the people we serve, and I am thrilled to join HHS and help build upon that energy and dedication.”