2 days before Dem State convention. Still no announced candidates?

It’s a slow week, so who the Democrats are (or are not running) for constitutional office is a huge topic of discussion. And I’m amazed that even with the Democrat State Convention starting on July 8th, there is still no word of them running any candidates for office.

And really, who do they have among them who is seeking a higher profile of running for a constitutional office? Who are they going to run?  It’s not like the top of the ticket races where they say year after year “maybe we can get Billie, or Stephanie, or Brendan,” even though none of their dream team wants to move forward with a major race, much less a down-ticket affair.  With an almost unprecedented void of Democrat Candidates this election, I have this suspicion that Randy Seiler has earned a new honorary recognition among Democrats this week – “Randy Seiler: most likely to have his calls sent to voicemail” as he tries to scare up interest.

What’s the lay of the land for Democrats in the constitutional offices?

Jamie Smith’s call might be the second least-desired call as he seeks a Lt. Governor candidate.  This one is taking a while, so we’ll see what he comes up with to try to balance the ticket.

There’s likely no Democrat attorney who wants to get out and run for AG, because they know that’s an automatic loss against Marty Jackley who has it buttoned up among Sheriffs and States Attorneys.

Secretary of State might have an outside chance of some national money behind it, but even with token take-one-for-the-team money, that’s a pretty big gamble for a candidate. With Monae Johnson able to claim experience with the SOS office, they can’t just put up a warm body as they have in the past. They have to have someone with a “hook” into capturing people’s imagination as to why they should be in that office.

Auditor & Treasurer will be tough for Dems, because they have to find someone who can self-fund for these offices with no constituencies.  School and Lands might be able to draw someone, because of Brock Greenfield’s controversies a year or so back, but once you get past one press release, the candidate will have to have their act together, because that issue isn’t in the limelight anymore, alongside the fact they’ll be taking on a very experienced campaigner in Greenfield. Plus, Brock is fully backed by the GOP, whereas Democrats’ resources are far less.

There’s a rumor or two about the Public Utilities Commission race drawing an anti-pipeline candidate, but again, that’s a double edged sword as they’ll be setting themselves up to be anti-development in a race where the pro-development people have money, and the protesters don’t. And they’ll be running against a known and experienced Chris Nelson fully backed by the Republican party in a Republican state.

Not a lot of good options for Democrat candidates at this point.

So, who do you think they’ll run? And be realistic.

10 thoughts on “2 days before Dem State convention. Still no announced candidates?”

  1. Seiler for Secretary of State would be there only chance of a single-digit defeat; even that would cost more money than they have to make it happen. Sutton would likely win that race, but no benefit for him to go for it.

  2. What a sad state of affairs. The SDDP has truly lost its way. People really don’t understand how important a strong two-party system is. It creates dialogue and compromise and is at the very foundation of how our country was formed.

    SDDP leaders should be ashamed. Yet, I’d probably be reluctant as well to be associated with a party that has taken less than 2 years to create nearly double digit inflation, made us dependent on foreign oil instead of our own, supported law breakers while wanting to defund the police, etc. etc. etc.

    If the SDDP doesn’t get its head out of its own butt soon, you can stick a fork in them – they will be done and totally irrelevant.

    1. 100% correct. Amazing how far the Dems have fallen considering just four years ago they were roughly 12K votes away from ending a 40 year losing streak for the mansion.

      If it keeps trending this way the SD two party system will become the Mid-Right Republicans vs. the Far-Right Republicans. You would think the national party would step in with financing to help reestablish a party apparatus.

  3. The dems are doing this to themselves. I agree.

    Dems would be so much better off to recruit energized people who want to run.

  4. The Dems get plenty of money from the DNC and other national Democrat groups but they piss it away on salaries for unionized staff members that work year-round. That was one gift Ann Tornberg gave the SDDP before being ousted- she unionized their party so no one could get fired. Now the Dems waste money on over-priced staff that don’t accomplish anything while they push the national DNC message that doesn’t resonate with conservative Democrat South Dakotans. Hence, the mass exodus of voters from the Democrat party to Independent and NPA registrations.

  5. You would think they would be aggressively trying to fill the AG slot so they could have somebody enthusiastic when explaining their stupid ballot measures and defending them against constitutional challenges.
    But then they would have to get organized. And raise a lot of money.

    1. You mean those ballot measures that a majority of South Dakotans have voted for, right?

      1. the majority of voters vote for stupid ballot measures even when the AG’s explanation, printed on the ballot right above it, says it’s going to be challenged on constitutional grounds. It’s just a genteel way of saying “this is stupid and unconstitutional.”
        And people vote for them anyway.

  6. No announced candidates

    I am not surprised

    It is generally ok who showed up at convention…will you do it? Everyone step forward who wants to run and all but one steps back…and we have a winner!

Comments are closed.