I noted earlier that Attorney General Marty Jackley is having a fundraiser tomorrow Night in Sioux Falls with sports stars Chad Greenway and Mike Miller in support for his race for Governor.
And not to be outdone, Congresswoman Kristi Noem – herself a candidate for the same office – is having a fundraiser of her own on June 19th, with a cast of hosts that would make any politico in the state envious:
I took notice of a snippet of information from last night’s Sioux Falls School Board Election, where they noticed that absentee voting was twice as high as it had ever been in a previous school board race. The School voting supervisor noted they had something in the neighborhood of 400 votes in an election that had 4335 total votes cast – about 10%.
10%? In a race where 1st place and 2nd place wasn’t much more than that apart, those kinds of numbers can make a difference. And when you look at higher level political races, the numbers become much more prominent.
Another anecdote – I helped a candidate in the last election who put forth a solid effort that any candidate could have been proud of. He advertised, did door to door, did direct mail, signs — the works! He maximized every dime he had as it came in. He didn’t do an early vote piece, because the money wasn’t there, so he geared towards peaking on election day. And make no mistake, he ran a darned good campaign.
When the votes came in on election day, and they came in precinct by precinct… he won! But then the absentee/early votes were counted. And it flipped the other way in a wave.
Why? Because in the 2016 general election 28.6% of the votes came in on an absentee basis. In this instance, that was in the neighborhood of a tremendous 3500 votes, with many of these votes cast before he was fully on the ground.
If you look at it, the number of votes that are put into elections on an absentee basis should give candidates great pause, and if they didn’t have an early/absentee voting program in place, they should thank their lucky stars that their opponent must not have, either:
| SD Statewide Absentee Voting numbers |
President or Gubernatorial race? |
Absentee % Turnout |
|
| “2004” | 94634 | P | 23.96% |
| “2006” | 93285 | G | 27.35% |
| “2008” | 100780 | P | 26.02% |
| “2010” | 63750 | G | 19.71% |
| “2012” | 91145 | P | 24.70% |
| “2014” | 55292 | G | 19.50% |
| “2016” | 108733 | P | 28.60% |
When the number of votes coming in early ranges anywhere from 20% to 30%, it’s an indication that candidates need to pay very strong attention to a campaign where people are voting 45 days out – all the way back into September in a general election.
Absentee voting seems to be higher in many presidential years, but then you get an anomaly such as the 2006 Gubernatorial race, which was the highest absentee turnout aside from the 2016. With waning numbers, 2014 had politicos recommending to candidates to put more of their eggs into the basket, solely geared towards peaking on election day. But in light of the massive numbers put up in 2016, that wisdom should be re-evaluated.
The Absentee/Early Voter needs to be part of any campaign strategy, and in light of numbers approaching 30%, they need to be courted and have sufficient resources devoted towards attracting their favor.
In other words, The Early Bird Catches the Early Voting Worm.
At least, that’s what I’m telling candidates.
Coming in slightly under 500 votes away from her nearest competitor, Cynthia Mickelson of Sioux Falls took an early lead in the Sioux Falls School Board race and never looked back; continually increasing her lead as the votes were counted over the course of the evening.
Mickelson, whose husband Mark is the Republican Speaker of the State House of Representatives, seemed to hold the attention of popular opinion in the Sioux Falls community, as well as letter writers to the local newspapers during the entirety of the campaign.
The victory may seem even more sweeter, considering her liberal detractors would quite offensively poke at her on the basis of her gender, at the same time they supported her opponent, Randy Dobberpuhl.
In the end, her victory was all but guaranteed as Cynthia ran a superior campaign in fundraising, door to door, and voter contact, peaking on election day. It was a textbook win. And a good lesson that it pays to stick to the basics.
Congratulations to Cynthia, and best of luck to her in her new job as Sioux Falls’ newest School Board member.
Results from KELOland.com: – click on the link for the latest results as they come in.
Looks like Mickelson is pulling away from the pack with just under a 500 vote lead… I think you can call it for Cynthia at this point.
Aberdeen municipal election results are out and available here at the Aberdeen American News.
And Mitchell results are also in…. Check here for the Mitchell Daily Republic’s results.
Results from KELOland.com: – click on the link for the latest results as they come in.
Rounds Statement on Senate Passage of VA Accountability Legislation
Bill would give VA Secretary the ability to make real reforms, improve the quality of care for veterans
WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs’ Committee, today made the following statement on the Senate passage of theDepartment of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act. This bipartisan bill would reform the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by allowing the secretary to remove bad employees and protect whistleblowers from retaliation. Rounds is an original cosponsor of this legislation.
“Today, the Senate took another step toward improving care for our nation’s veterans,” said Rounds. “The Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act will hold bad VA employees accountable for inappropriate actions and allow whistleblowers necessary safeguards, while protecting the hardworking VA employees who remain dedicated to providing quality care to our veterans. I look forward to this legislation quickly passing the House of Representatives and getting it to the president’s desk so Secretary Shulkin can begin implementing these much-needed changes.”
The Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act increases the VA’s authority to fire employees at all levels of the department, shortens the removal process and makes certain an individual removed from the VA is not kept on the VA’s payroll while appealing that decision. It will also make it easier for the VA to remove poor performing senior executives and replace them with qualified candidates. Additionally, any appeals by senior VA executives would no longer be brought before the Merit Systems Protection Board, but instead would be handled directly by the VA secretary under an expedited timeline.
The legislation also includes a number of other provisions to hold employees accountable, including:
The Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act is widely supported by key veterans stakeholders including the VA and U.S. House VA committee leadership. It has also won the support of numerous veterans advocacy groups that represent millions of veterans in the United States and key government accountability groups.
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Thune Welcomes Senate Passage of the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act
“Those who have served our country in the armed forces deserve a system that serves them.”
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) issued the following statement regarding passage of the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act (S. 1094), which would give the Department of Veterans Affairs secretary greater flexibility to terminate or demote agency employees based on performance, misconduct, or other issues related to employee accountability. It would also increase protections for whistleblowers, as well as expedite the placement of successful managers.
“Our veterans have made tremendous sacrifices for this nation. In return, they deserve the best of care. The Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act will provide needed accountability at the Department of Veterans Affairs — a department that is too often mired in bureaucratic inefficiencies to the detriment of the men and women it serves.
“By protecting employees who are willing to call out bad behavior and enabling dismissal of poorly performing employees, this legislation provides much-needed and long-awaited reforms. Those who have served our country in the armed forces deserve a system that serves them. This legislation is a significant step in the right direction.”
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Noem, Johnson Reintroduce Bill to Keep Fugitives Off Social Security
Washington, D.C. – Reps. Kristi Noem (R-SD) and Sam Johnson (R-TX) today reintroduced the Control Unlawful Fugitive Felon (CUFF) Act. If enacted, the legislation would prohibit individuals with outstanding felony warrants or parole violations from receiving Social Security disability or retirement payments. The bill is estimated to save taxpayers $4.92 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
“It’s incredible to think that a wanted felon can evade prosecution for months – even years – and yet somehow still receive government-issued checks every 30 days or so,” said Noem. “I’m proud to again join Congressman Johnson in introducing this commonsense legislation. Taxpayers shouldn’t be asked to make payments to people who are running from the law. It’s as simple as that.”
“The fact that fugitives can collect benefits off the backs of hardworking, law abiding taxpayers is appalling,” said Johnson, Chairman of the Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee. “Even worse, these benefits can help felons further evade the law. That’s why I’m pleased to join Congresswoman Noem in reintroducing this commonsense Law and Order bill. It’s the right thing to do – both for the safety of and respect for all upstanding American citizens.”
The CUFF Act discontinues Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits for those with an outstanding warrant or parole violation. The legislation only applies to individuals subject to felony charges, or a crime carrying a minimum term of one or more years in prison. Benefits can be restored once the individual resolves any outstanding issues.
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