Coming on the Senate Floor on Wednesday is Senate Bill 40, which would send all statewide partisan office nominations to a primary process, just as we do for US Senate, Congress, Governor, and all legislative and county candidates.
The South Dakota Republican Party has sent out a resolution passed by the GOP back in January directing the executive Board to oppose Senate Bill 40, which eliminates the carve-out for several constitutional offices:
This comes after the Senate State Affairs Committee notes that the last Republican Convention wasn’t exactly…. representative of statewide voters as a whole in trying to foist Steve Haugaard on the Governor as a Lt. Governor in the last Republican Convention, contending that only a select few were empowered with making the selection and made it more about hard-core conservatives sending some sort of message:
Is the process that we use for every other primary candidates not good enough for (most) constitutional officers? Or is it time to put them on the same playing field as every other candidate running for partisan political office?
I don’t know. If the primary process is good enough for your County Auditor, why isn’t it good enough for the State Auditor?
Get your popcorn ready for the Senate this afternoon.
Should be interesting to watch..
Although this brings money into the election process , it also provides a way to vet candidates for these important offices. While they are at it why not amend 40 to have open primaries so everyone can vote versus party radicals deciding who we vote for.
Join the party and you can choose. Why should a outsider choose for the party?
Change the law whenever your candidates don’t get nominated.
Pass the bill. A bunch of Party elitists who want to be courted for their support of a candidate. Such an idiotic way to choose candidates.
Who will you vote for in a statewide primary for AG?
Mark Vargo
Alexis Tracy
Dan Nelson
Shane Penfield
Jon Hansen
How much will they raise? $50k-150k each?
Hansen likes Trump so Trump tweets to support him and because of that he wins?
These down ballot races will become guessing games for voters.
If they have to be good enough to run in front of everyone instead of some party insiders I think we will have a deeper bench and better candidates.
They should go whole hog and amend the bill to just throw everything into jungle primaries and ranked-choice voting.
Absolutely not
When someone they don’t like wins a primary they will want to change it back.
As private organizations they should be allowed to decide how to choose their candidates. But the last SDGOP convention showed the delegates don’t actually represent the voters in their counties. The disparate percentages for Haugaard in the primary and at the convention showed this perfectly.
If the SDGOP didn’t want the legislature to take the nominating process away from the conventions, they should not have voted against the proposed bylaw changes.
It really is that simple.
Anyone could have become a precinct person. The world is run by those who show up.
The delegates should not have voted for Haugaard but in their defense (I can’t believe I’m defending them) they were an angry hornets nest and while they are killer bees their nest was whacked at a few times in primaries.
Why can’t this be amended down to just LG? Then everyone will be happy.
Incorrect. I’ve been a local party where the precinct people were voted in by a coup. These people did not represent our area at the convention.
This needs to pass. The current system allows just a few people to make decisions. Back room deals happen to prop up one candidate or push another down. A couple activists with time and a little money can load the convention with dozens of delegates who’ve never been to a convention or party event in their lifetime. They come to convention and get their marching orders — some with hotels paid for or other promises made. Some just on a wish to tip over a Governor’s choice for LG. It’s a bad look for the party. Let all the voters decide — even the ones who don’t go to convention because they’re working a weekend shift or coaching their kids soccer team during the convention.
The chart above shows that Minnehaha voted two to one for Haugaard over Rhoden. Ridiculous. It would never have happened in a primary. A few dozen people undermining the will of the entire town.
The current system has got to go.
A down ballot statewide primary might be the best way for Lora Hubbel to get elected. 3 candidates for Auditor. 120k people voting. Only 20k people have heard of any of the candidates so the other 100k just guess or don’t vote. I haven’t voted for a woman so I’ll vote for Beth soye or lora hubbel for their race.
Yeah great idea. In 2010 the gop was recruiting pat Miller to run – no one wanted to run. Well lora will and her volunteers will get her signatures.
You don’t give the electorate much credit. And active primaries may encourage more people to get out and vote.
I think I heard in committee that we are one of only 3 states that use the convention system to pick our candidates. I think the voters can handle adding these races to all the other primaries they vote on.
Right now, Lora Hubbel can turn out fifty of her devoted fans in Minnehaha County and have a good shot at choosing the next Lieutenant Governor or Attorney General nominee.
SB 40… or Lora Hubbel? I’ll let you ponder that for a minute.