Remember way back when, in March of 2021, when there was chatter about how Democrats were going to make a judicial recommendation based on “how engaged candidates have been with the Democratic Party?”
Seiler said he and the party discussed potential recommendations with former South Dakota members of Congress, current state Democratic leaders and federal judges.
“The political aspects of this matter” in addition to how qualified and experienced they are for the job, Seiler said. He said he considered how engaged candidates have been with the Democratic Party and if they’ve ran for office.
That was back on March of 2021. About 19-20 months ago. So imagine the surprise when it came out just yesterday that they have finally submitted a name to fill the appointment:
The South Dakota Democratic Party has recommended a judge for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench in Rapid City.
Veronica Duffy, 58, has served as a U.S. magistrate judge since 2007, initially in the Western Division of the U.S. District Court of South Dakota.
and…
Duffy’s recommendation is not an assurance of success, but Seiler said the party is confident in her credentials and qualifications.
Interestingly, while Randy Seiler had said the benchmark was going to be “how engaged candidates have been with the Democratic Party and if they’ve ran for office,” the outgoing judge, Jeffrey Viken, had originally said “The next federal judge serving western South Dakota should be culturally competent in Lakota culture and history.”
But in their nomination, I can’t say that I’ve ever really noticed Veronica Duffy running as a Democrat for office. Nor in a prior bio does it note any particular tribal affiliation. In fact, two tribal members who had expressed interest seem to be taking a pass on commenting.
So if they weren’t going to pick someone who was strongly engaged with the state Democrat Party as they said they were, and they passed on someone with a strong tribal affiliation as the outgoing judge had requested, why exactly did it take 20 months for Democrats to move someone forward?
It’s almost as if they are running the nomination process for the federal posts as well as they run their elections for office.
There are about three levels that this warrants comment on:
First, from a political operation perspective – leaving a nomination hanging open this long doesn’t say good things about whoever is in charge.
Second, from a legal skill perspective, this is a great pick. Veronica is well know and respected in the South Dakota legal community. This is a merit based decision.
Third, thank God we didn’t get what had been rumored of the seat going to some smorgasbord checklist of demographics that had little to do with talent and a lot to do with political messaging.
Finally, the Irish and the Catholics deserve a little consideration too – so Virginia Duffy will be a fine future parade leader on St Patrick’s Day in Sioux Falls.
I agree with Lee. Judge Duffy is a mainstream Democrat that wouldn’t get nominated by a Republican President, but elections have consequences and she should be confirmed if nominated. She is a good pick that I presume will get at least some bipartisan support. That would not be true of a lot of the people that were rumored to be considered.
That’s what struck me about this choice. People made all these pronouncements about ticking off the boxes of being a dem officeholder, etc.. and they came up with someone who didn’t really seem to be in any of their categories.