Are South Dakotans tired of politics already? Or are they fired up about the fall election?

South Dakotans just came off of a tremendous wave of elections.

We had the June Primary Elections. A number of municipal elections, including a historic election in Sioux Falls where Christine Erickson was the first woman elected to the office of Mayor of our State’s largest city (despite Liz May’s opposition to women being acknowledged in the South Dakota Constitution). This was quickly followed by the Democrat and Republican State Conventions, where constitutional office candidates were chosen.

And finally we had hard-fought July 28 Republican Primary runoff election for Governor – another first in South Dakota state history.  Even this week, we had a sort-of National Republican convention, which was more of a campaign rally than an actual convention where people voted.

Since then, one thing I’ve noticed with a number of candidates – at least on my side of the aisle – is that for many there is a  bit of disengagement at the moment. Even though early voting is only a week away.  Seriously. We start voting on September 18th.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. A number of them are fired up and organized and ready to rock. But at the same time, I think some people are weary of politics. There does not seem to be the same sense of motivation that we’ve seen when candidates had 2 ½ months off with their families to recharge their batteries.

What do you think? Are people suffering campaign fatigue and disengagement from politics?

Or are they ready to press forward because they just want to get it all over with?