Can you identify this Democrat? He’s probably going to be your candidate for US Senate.

Can you identify this Democrat?  I’m guessing 99% of people in South Dakota would not be able to. And that represents an unclimbable hill for the Democrat Party in 2016.  If you see this gentleman, you probably should avoid him, as it looks as if he might just be the sacrificial lamb for Democrats in the 2016 US Senate Race.

williams
(From Jay Williams facebook, dated 2-11-2010)

The word on the street is that Democrats in Pierre are telling people that Jay Williams of Yankton is likely to make an announcement in coming days for U.S. Senate as the party’s candidate for the Senate Seat currently held by Senator John Thune.

I’ve been hearing for months now that Williams, Chairman of the Yankton County Democrat Party, had allegedly been telling Democrat muckety-mucks something to the effect that if they were desperate and couldn’t find a candidate, they could put his name on the ballot.

And the word this week is that it’s more than likely that it’s going to happen. From continued reports at the state and national level about their lack of someone to run, Democrat Chairwoman Ann Tornberg may have gone ahead and decided to push the panic button, and call in the “if no one else will do it” candidate.

According to records and news reports, Williams apparently served a term or so as a member of the Yankton School Board in between losing races for the South Dakota House of Representatives in both 2010 and 2014. In those races, Williams came in 4th out of 4 candidates in 2010, and 4th out of 4 again in 2014.

If Williams enters the race, this would mark him as the second statewide candidate in 2016 to have previously underwhelmed voters in his last run for office. Paula Hawks owns that “underwhelming” distinction as well, only winning by 8 votes in the 2014 general election for District 9 State Representative.

Running candidates who have either lost legislative office, or barely squeaked by is symptomatic of Democrat’s dismal performances at the ballot box in recent years, as well as their lack of party building activities. With no bench to speak of, they’re forced to comb through old lists, and put marginal candidates up for office who would normally not be considered to lead the ticket.

34 thoughts on “Can you identify this Democrat? He’s probably going to be your candidate for US Senate.”

  1. Looks like he comes from the Bill Clinton wing of the Democrat party with the background of the picture…

    1. There are no “wings” in the Democrat party–it’s jack-booted thug-enforced orthodoxy.

      And yes, Bill Clinton is in charge of the party girl interns.

      Really, this guy has a family and mostly grown kids–WHY would he/they post that photo?

  2. I was at this meeting. Mr. Williams said that if we failed to find anyone else to run that he would allow his name to be put on the ballot. So this is what it has come to.

  3. Tornberg should be fired for her extreme incompetence. It’s better to run nobody than someone who will lose 80%-20%

    1. No, it’s better for the Dems to run a sacrificial lamb, for at least two reasons:

      1) in theory, it causes Thune to pay attention to the 2016 campaign at home, spend a little of his money on a campaign, and campaign a little at home. That reduces his time and money available to spend on other states’ Senate races, thereby marginally helping the Dems in their efforts to retake the Senate; and

      2) one never knows what can happen in politics and life. Many longshot candidates have won elections.

      The odds are overwhelming that having a Dem candidate running against Thune won’t matter (and shouldn’t – I’m a Republican who supports Thune). But the odds of the election(s) not being affected are 100% if Thune runs unopposed.

  4. Pitiful!
    As well as the three in office.
    What great choices we have courtesy of Citizens United and out of state donations\ fluences. With that undercurrent we’ll never rid ourselves of these shackles.

  5. Mr. Williams can use that party girls photo in his campaign along with talking points for the state dems pushing to legalize mind altering drugs and efforts to redistribute wealth.

    What would be the campaign slogan?

    All or nothing? Vote Williams US Senate

    What do we got to lose? Vote Williams US Senate

  6. Sometimes, when your options for candidates are so bad, it may be for the best to not run anyone. This may be that time. I think it is interesting that the party that claims to stand for women’s reproductive rights is nominating a man who pretends to grope and womanize women in pictures.

    1. I see a vague pointing, but not so much groping. Perhaps you’re projecting your own desires in seeing what isn’t there? Besides, it’s pretty easy to cherry-pick unflattering pics from facebook. Pat’s got a nice one of himself at a concert at the Swiftel Center where he looks drunk out of his mind… or is suffering from a stroke. Hard to tell sometimes.

      1. -who pretends to grope

        — but not so much groping

        Yeah, we see who has the problems with unfulfilled fantasies.

          1. Good for you…but who was talking about actual groping–consensual or otherwise–besides you?

            Sounds like YOU might have some weird groping fantasy.

  7. This weirdo is going to do a lot of damage to the already suffering Democratic brand in South Dakota. Ann, this is not helpful. Please start over.

  8. Well, I thought Paula Hawks had the worst campaign roll-out ever in South Dakota politics, but apparently our new unquestionable winner is this clown.

  9. Thune is the joke! S.D. Has been suffering under Thunes spending cuts. Property taxes almost doubled, gas taxes doubled, licenses and wheel taxes raised and counties still going broke.

    1. And which of those did Thune have anything to do with?

      Those are all governed by the state legislature.

      1. Due to Thunes spending cuts there is a lot less federal money in the state of SD- roads and education.

  10. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t agree with Jay’s politics, he won’t even carry Yankton County and will probably get less than 30% but he is a person I would love to have as a neighbor.

  11. Michael,

    I suppose it depends on SDDP priorities.

    1). Play the long odds and distract Thune from national elections or

    2) Conserve resources and concentrate them where the odds of having an effect are higher, e.g. Legislative races.

    I would go with the latter.

    P.S. I would also abandon their efforts on initiatives as they are single issues and are one and dones with no long lasting impact. Before you have a viable starting 5, you need a bench. They need to rebuild from the basics to be relevant in the future.

  12. Please, Ann, find a REAL candidate to run. Don’t go with this desperation move. This is really, really, dumb.

  13. Behavior unbecoming of an ethical man should be condemned, not excused.
    The decision to post a photograph of that unethical behavior demonstrates a serious lack of discretion.

    My god, what his wife and daughters must think viewing that photo???

    I doubt the good lord considers that event and the photo of it as “fun”.

    And Mary wept….

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