I’m hearing from multiple sources that a last minute addition has been made to the Hughes County Lincoln Day Dinner program tonight, and that – allegedly – Jason Ravnsborg may be announcing his intention to run for the office of Attorney General currently held by Marty Jackley.
Aside from Marty being term limited out, he’s also busy running for Governor. Tonight will also mark the first event that both Marty and Congresswoman Kristi Noem will be appearing at as declared candidates for Governor.
If Jason announces tonight, he would be the first entrant into the race, which also has others eyeing it such as Assistant Attorney General Charles McGuigan, State Senator Lance Russell, and Lawrence County State’s Attorney John Fitzgerald.
Ravnsborg 2014 for US Senate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61XOUtGYSvU
oh good grief. He’s not ready for prime time. And I always fear guys like this who want to be something so bad. Can we please have a good quality attorney step up to the plate?
What does it say when there are 66 county states attorney’s and none of them are stepping up?
Either we don’t know what is going on behind the scenes or no one really wants to be Attorney General.
That disappoints me because I think Jackley has done a good job and he will be a formidable governor candidate. I would have thought he gave the job a little more prestige to ambitious and experienced attorney’s across the state.
He’s coming.
And he is not ready for primetime why? What makes him not a good quality attorney? Are you an attorney? Do you have some insider information that you would like to share?
Jason is a nice enough guy and has worked his tail off for the party but I just do not see him being qualified to be in any statewide office. Yankton City Council or County Commission maybe.
We need more candidate options for AG. There are plenty of good attorneys out there that would serve as a good AG but we need them to toss their hat into the race.
Ok, so the last time Jason tossed his hat in the ring all the anonymous posters from across the world wide interweb opined on how he was not ready to run for US Senate, they theorized how he should run for something at the state level and not be so audacious and now that it appears this may be the case out come the same lame arguments? Nice work reporting PP, but some of your commenters need a new script…
When they said he should run for something else I think they meant local. Legislative or states attorney. Hone those skills. He got 2% in the us senate race. They had a point.
Agreed. I don’t believe he’s ever had a trial.
He has no experience as an attorney let alone prosecuting experience.
No experience as an attorney? What is he doing in Yankton, bussing tables? Do YOU have experience as an attorney? How are you qualified to give your opinion as to his attorney experience? Have you known him personally for any period of time? I have, and I know he has experience as an attorney. He is highly intelligent, and he is committed. Sure, he is not one of the South Dakota names, but I don’t care about that. Herseth is a South Dakota name, but I wouldn’t vote for a Herseth if you paid me. Are you running yourself and want to discredit him, or are you a buddy with one of the other potential candidates and want to just throw out anything you can think of so your pal gets in?
Jason has never prosecuted a single case. Wow.
What will be remembered about Jason Ravnsborg is the amount of time and energy he put into traveling around the state explaining the ramifications of the last round of IM’s to Republican groups. What also needs to be remembered is those same Republican groups are comprised mostly of the
Inner circle working/voting members who attend the GOP Convention who will be picking our next Republican candidate for AG. They certainly won’t forget.
Charlie I posted at 2:30pm Feb 21 up above. Giving credit for being a volunteer and loyal workhorse for the state party is one thing but in my opinion I simply do not feel Jason is qualified for that particular position of being an AG. I could be a workhorse but does that mean the state party would endorse me for state auditor if it became open when I have no experience nor am I qualified? I sure hope not!
This is a perfect example why we need more inner party and multi-party competition in South Dakota. There really is no competition presently in which everyone benefits.
Totally unqualified.
Jason who??? Never heard of him. We need someone qualified and with experience. Too bad we’re losing Jackley.
Explain what makes him unqualified instead of just indicating that your opinion is that he is unqualified. If you haven’t heard of him it just shows that you must not pay attention to things. He traveled the state in his bid for the senate nomination and he has many years of experience as an attorney.
Would Chad Haber being Annette Bosworth’s husband run again for AG? A race between Chad and Jason would be tough to call.
Dumbest thing I’ve read on the internet this week.
How is he not qualified? Ltc in the army with being a lawyer alone gives him the qualifications to be ag. Plus he had prosecuted cases so all these complaints above have now been debunked.
When and where has he prosecuted cases? In what capacity?
Give me the name of a case he has prosecuted. What county? Pat I think you should dig into this for us. Does the States Attorney’s Association know what he has done?
1. What county
2. What case
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I think we can put a big zero here.
I have been following Jason’s career ever since he was in the race for U.S. Senate. In spite of the perpetual negative comments from people who won’t sign their name, and therefore have no credibility, I have found Jason to be not only qualified, sincere and hard working, but also honest and true to his word in every case. I can’t think of anyone better qualified for the job.
It seems the GOP is being taken over by Iowans with an overestimation of their importance and qualifications.
Wollmann, McGuigan, and Russell are all MUCH more qualified than Ravnsborg will ever be.
So this is your opinion versus factual.
Jason is an intelligent man of character with a strong work ethic and rock-solid conservative principles who has admirably and honorably served our country’s military. He may not be the most polished of politicians, but I do not want a Slick-Rick-Weiland type or a grandstander like Lance Russell.
I would rather see the new Brown County States Attorney Chris White run for AG vs Ravensberg any day. Chris seems to be a very sharp and aggressive prosecutor.
Fitzgerald has prosecuted the most cases in the state of SD. If you want experience he has it. It’s time a “real” prosecuting attorney steps up and runs.
He and his family were victims of a horrible crime that nearly killed his father. His father lost a leg, and nearly died. This was by the mob in Boston folks. He is passionate about his job, and knows what it is like to be a victim of a horrible crime. Fitzgerald will do an outstanding job as AG.
So, has Fitzgerald announced a run? Not that I have heard, but with the way good people get attacked by a whole herd of folks with the same last name (anonymous) I can certainly understand why more candidates choose not to step out into public sector life.
I don’t even know who Fitzgerald is…zero name ID…no chance I don’t care how good of a prosecutor you are that is not the only thing to the job….
I have no doubt Roundsberg is a nice guy. And willing to go from county to county talking to people. But that does not necessarily make him a good Attorney General. Prosecution experience… courtroom experience… policy experience… experience managing other attorneys… experience in other legal matters like tribal law, environmental law, consumer protection, etc. Oh yeah… and plain ol law enforcement experience — AG is in charge of the DCI as well.
So him being ‘nice’ and willing to go from county to county to talk with people… if that makes him a great option then that changes the entire standard of who should be our office holders. While I admire his willingness to work as a candidate, it still doesn’t make him one of our top 5 options for Attorney General. I’ll take McGuigan, Wollmann, Gosch, Russell, Fitzgerald, Seward, etc over this guy. Seems to me he’s still going the wrong direction… let’s see — run for US Senate. Nope. Now let’s run for Attorney General. Jason… go get some real experience — go prosecute thugs for 8 or 10 years. Spend some time in the Legislature. Earn the job.
Anon,
What evidence do you have about his courtroom experience? He has been a lawyer for a long time, I bet there is a lot of courtroom experience there. It seems like a lot of people on here are just not up-to-date on his experience. I think we all need to better understand his background before saying he is not a top choice.
Additionally, being a prosecuter is not the only qualification for an AG. I would argue leadership and managerial experience is one of the top qualities need that appears he has a lot of.
I would echo Pat’s comments and say a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army has more than enough experience for me….who else has been shot at? , heck anyone can stand in a courtroom…honored at Congress and got a Bronze Star…those items pop out big time to me….
Being a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army and awarded a Bronze Star qualifies one to be South Dakota State AG? I was in the military myself and greatly appreciate ones service but unless this attorney has the experience as a prosecuting attorney in the military or as a civilian along with management experience I fail to see how he is qualified.
If you are in a criminal jury trial, experience is the most important. Would you want a doctor that has never done the procedure or one that has done it a thousand times.
I would say this…the guy has worked tirelessly for the party these last couple of years. Anyone disagree? Frankly I don’t know anyone who has worked harder. I can also tell you this, he is well liked among legislators and advised many of them on these ballot issues. In my mind he clearly has a good grasp on the law.
I think many of your attacks are weak, sounds like a lot of fear from the AG’s office to me….he is the outsider, which in the age of Trump and constant yells of corruption in Pierre could be a strong position…I don’t see how anyone can claim he is corrupt vs anyone running from AG’s office has to defend Marty’s policies…really which States Attorney or Sheriff will say that Marty fought against SB 70, 73 or Marcy’s Law.
I see this job being LAW + politics, not just one or the other. Tell me what of these other attorneys have done anything for the party? and be specific, name and what they have done…
Heck Lance Russell supported that disastrous Marcy Law for gosh sakes.
You guys underestimate him in my opinion…he jumped out there first….now everyone looks in react mode…of they announce soon they look like they are reacting to him and AG office could have a 2 front war of they are not careful…if someone runs from there….it very easily could force him to attack the office which there are a lot of points he could bring as an outsider…which in turn hurts Marty…and helps Noem…if I was Marty I’d go talk to him and get him on my team before Noem does
Once again, because of our abundance of resources, we are spending time running down 4-5 people who are qualified for the position. The Democrats haven’t run one qualified AG candidate on 40 years and we have this many just this year? Wow.
The only one I have heard of running, that is a proven conservative, is Lance Russell.
He has a record of going after corruption and a record in the legislature that 100% shows he is certifiable conservative Republican who is in afraid to take on the establishment.
Ravnsborg is out of his class and his roots as an Iowan is going to hurt him.
That maybe the dumbest thing written on here that because someone is from Iowa that it should in anyway reflect negatively on that person.
Also, where is the evidence of Ravnsborg being out of his class? Again, all opinion with not one fact supporting it.