Republican political scion Joel Koskan, son of former Representative/Senator John Koskan, filed paperwork on Thursday to challenge Democrat Troy Heinert for the office of State Senate in District 26.
Republicans are going to be fielding a strong slate of candidates in 2018 – and we’re just getting started!
Stay tuned!
At the same time the Republican house members of District 19 picked up a primary election, apparently State Senator Stace Nelson picked up a Democrat challenger:
The challenger, Ardon Wek, who ran for the House before, made his announcement here.
More to come!
Dusty Johnson, Republican candidate for Congress, is out with a new video detailing his position on NAFTA and President Trump. From Facebook:
From the Argus Leader:
Nationally, Democrats are feeling good about their chances this year. They’re in a fighting mood. As I write, they’re gleefully preparing to shut down the federal government. Many observers say the stars are aligning for a “wave election” in which they take control of the House and Senate.
and…
There are now fewer than 160,000 registered Democrats in the state – a deficit of roughly 85,000 voters to the Republican Party. To put that into historical perspective, in 2008, Democrats were 37,000 voters behind. In 10 years, the gulf between the two parties more than doubled. And the decline hasn’t abated since Trump won. They’ve lost roughly 10,000 voters since then.
In fact, there hasn’t been this few registered Democrats since 1972. Then, when the state had a population of about 200,000 fewer people, Democrats made up 40.5 percent of all registered voters. Today, they make up just 30 percent.
Dems can run (candidates) but their voters keep hiding.
Did the person with the green sign have pants on?
I just had a reader tip me off on this..
Noting the article directly below this, where I point out that outgoing US Attorney Randy Seiler filed paperwork to run for Attorney General nearly 2 weeks ago, I was asked “How is Randy Seiler going to run for AG when he’s just been hired to be the Hughes County States Attorney?”
Wait, what?
The Hughes County Commission on Tuesday hired just-retired U.S. Attorney Randy Seiler of Fort Pierre as interim state’s attorney to cover for State’s Attorney Wendy Kloeppner who is leaving in two weeks.
Seiler, 71, retired Dec. 31 after 22 years as a federal prosecutor, the past nearly three years working as the U.S. attorney for South Dakota.
Seiler told the Commission the idea is to “give you guys a little more time” to replace Kloeppner on a permanent basis. And it’s just “being a good neighbor,” as a resident of Fort Pierre across the Missouri River.
and..
An Air Force veteran who graduated from law school in 1980, Seiler worked at a law firm in Mobridge, during which time he worked as a deputy state’s attorney in Campbell County for a time in the 1980s.
He began working as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. attorney’s office in 1995.
Besides his long experience as a prosecutor, a main qualification Seiler has for being interim state’s attorney in Hughes County is, he says: “I do not want the job on a permanent basis. I do not intend to run for the position.”
and..
Seiler’s arrangement approved on Tuesday seems to indicate the Commission didn’t get any applications in the past 25 days that they wished to accept.
Seiler will be paid $8,500 per month.
Seiler said he arrived at that amount by looking at what Kloeppner’s salary is this year, about $84,000, or $7,000 per month; then adding in an amount to account for the county employee benefits he won’t receive as an independent contractor.
Those benefits roughly amount to about 22 percent of the salary amount, bringing him to $8,500 per month, Seiler said.
Seiler noted to the County Commission that he did “not intend to run for the position” of State’s Attorney.. but where’s the part where he had already filed paperwork on January 8th that he was running for Attorney General?
(Might have been something that County Commissioners, and the local media, could have been interested in knowing at the time.)
Looks like Democrats have a unicorn in their midst.
Very quietly, on January 8th, outgoing Obama US Attorney appointee Randy Seiler registered a campaign committee at the Secretary of State to run for the office of Attorney General.
It’s unusual, as Democrats have not run anyone for this office not named Ron Volesky since 1998 – 20 Years ago! Volesky ran since in 2002, 2006 & 2010 to little/no fanfare and ever more dismal results (43%, 33%, and 33%).
While Deputy for many years, Seiler had a short tenure as US Attorney, taking over as Brendan Johnson went into private practice. Seiler’s most noticeable initiative for the office was a mid-2016 addition of a civil rights attorney for the US Attorney’s office partially for a certain issue we’re still hearing about:
Until this year, however, Seiler’s office hasn’t had an lawyer dedicated primarily to civil rights.
That’s changed with Alison Ramsdell’s appointment as the head of the newly-created Civil Rights section. The Flandreau native will lead the office’s efforts to educate the public on civil rights matters and pursue legal action against those who break the law.
And..
The position was added from above, when Attorney General Loretta Lynch released funding for 34 new civil rights prosecutors within the 93 U.S. Attorneys’ offices across the country. Seiler’s office applied for the funding and was awarded it, which made it possible to refocus Ramsdell’s work.
And..
Other efforts include sending follow-up letters from Ramsdell to schools on the federal government’s guidance on transgender rights and setting up an information booth at an LGBT rights gathering in Terrace Park this summer.
Given how unpopular and contentious the Obama Administration’s orders to schools were in South Dakota, with Seiler being the person enforcing President Obama’s will on how bathrooms/locker rooms were to be handled – beefing up his office to do so might mean we’re going to find the issue coming back this fall as a point of debate in the race for Attorney General.
At the same time that Democrats were giddy over the prospect of having one candidate running in District 12, Republicans were putting the finishing touches on having three candidates ready to roll for the seats up for election in District 12:
Senate Majority Leader Blake Curd, Rep. Arch Beal and former Rep. Manny Steele said they would again seek the legislative seats representing the southwestern part of Sioux Falls.
And…
Steele said he wasn’t considering another run for state House, but Beal and a former district representative convinced him to throw his hat in the ring.
“They twisted both arms and they didn’t have to twist them that hard,” Steele said.”That’s always been my passion, to work for District 12.”
On the way home from visiting the legislature for two days, and I happened to stop in an antique shop I’ve been meaning to visit, which turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve made lately:
I found this absolutely beautiful large political pin from the 1948 Republican national convention.
Looking pretty good for a 70-year-old, wouldn’t you say?
NEW ANALYSIS SHOWS SOUTH DAKOTA PASSENGERS WILL PAY UP TO $3.2 MILLION IN ADDITIONAL AIRPORT FEES UNDER NEW CONGRESSIONAL PROPOSAL
Despite Access to Millions of Dollars, Some in Congress Pushing Massive Tax Hike On South Dakota Fliers
PIERRE, SD – Stop Air Tax Now, a project of Airlines for America, today released an analysis detailing the higher fees that South Dakota fliers will pay if Congress approves a proposal to raise a fee passengers pay when flying out of commercial airports. The fee hike could be approved as early as January 19th.
The proposal would increase the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC), a tax added to the cost of plane tickets that is transferred directly to airports, by $4, to $8.50, on the first leg of each flight. The study shows that travelers flying out of South Dakota will annually pay up to $3.19 million more in PFCs under the new proposal.
“South Dakota does not need a tax hike,” said Dave Roetman, Minnehaha County GOP Chair. “Placing this extra burden on our commercial flyers will hamper our economic activity and make flying even more expensive for our citizens.”
The tax increase, proposed under the guise of modernization and expansion requirements, comes as airports in South Dakota took in $17.3 million in operating revenue last year and $13.84 million in grants. Additionally, South Dakota airport facilities have access to $6 billion dollars in federal funding from the FAA’s trust fund.
The tax increase would add up to $2 million annually to the coffers of Sioux Falls Regional Airport (FSD), the most of any airport in the state. FSD already has $13.54 million in unrestricted cash and investments and collected $2.75 million in grants last year.
Rapid City Regional Airport would also see up to $1.04 million annually from the increased tax despite receiving $1.07 million last year.
Passengers flying from smaller airports like Pierre Regional Airport would pay the highest amount in PFCs because most trips from smaller airports require a connecting flight. Under the fee increase, passengers flying out of smaller airports will pay $13 in PFCs on each flight – $8.50 on the initial leg of the trip and $4.50 for the second flight.
The existing Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) Program allows the collection of PFC fees up to $4.50 for every enplaned passenger at commercial airports controlled by public agencies. PFCs are capped at $4.50 per flight segment with a maximum of two PFCs charged on a one-way trip or four PFCs on a round trip, for a maximum of $18 total. The proposed $4 increase on the first leg of a flight will increase the round-trip maximum to $26.
More detailed information on specific states and airports can be found at http://www.stopairtaxnow.com/pfc-impact-revenue-state.
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