Did you know South Dakota Democrats held their party convention this last weekend?
You wouldn’t from the lack of press attention given it. All the lights have been on President Biden keynoting the dinner the night before as well as the GOP runoff. But 4 days after it took place, there seems to be nothing on who the loyal opposition has running for all those statewide offices.
But from new filings with the Secretary of State, you can get a glimpse of what the results appear to be:
Filed this morning with the SOS is a Statement of Organization for Frank Kloucek for PUC. Really.
I think they already had Terrance Davis for SOS who had filed some time ago. There’s a Margaret Kuipers for SD Treasurer who filed her Statement of Organization in the last few days.
And that’s about it. So unless anyone can fill in any other blanks I’m missing, here’s what the Democrat Ticket for 2026 is looking like:
Dan Ahlers – Governor
TBD – Lt. Gov
Terrance Davis – Secretary of State
Vacant – Attorney General
Vacant – Auditor
Margaret Kuipers – Treasurer
Vacant – School and Lands
Frank Kloucek – Public Utilities Commission
Er, yeah.
I hate to bring it up guys, but this is kind of looking more like the Libertarian Party’s slate of candidates than the Democrat Party who used to win elections on occasion.
Know of anyone else running as a Democrat constitutional officer? Drop me a note here.
UPDATE:
On Facebook, I did receive this comment..
So, there may be more..?
This is the weirdest election year I’ve ever seen.
Update to the Update.. Here’s more I just received.. From a Republican, BTW
Dan Ahlers – Governor
TBD – Lt. Gov
Terrance Davis – Secretary of State
Vacant – Attorney General
Tom Cool – Auditor
Margaret Kuipers – Treasurer
Dr. Raeann Mettler – School and Lands
Frank Kloucek – Public Utilities Commission
Right now they’re down just Attorney General. Not that I think any of these others are going to be serious competition.
There appears to be a growing movement asking Julian Beaudion who has campaigned hard for over a year to bow out of the US Senate Race and endorse Brian Bengs. Brian Bengs has momentum. Julian who is well liked and respected could run for audtor or another statewide office setting himself up to be the front runner for national office next cycle.