Governor is Huether’s Dream job, but he would settle for US House.
Stu Whitney’s big Huether interview is up at the Argus, and apparently Mike Huether thinks a lot about Mike Huether.
Ever since he was easily re-elected in 2014 and saw term limits looming next year, speculation has raged about Huether’s next move. When the longtime Democrat announced at a December press conference that he was registering as independent, it seemed a calculated move to trumpet his moderate credentials in a heavily conservative state.
The 54-year-old Yankton native admitted in a wide-ranging interview this week that South Dakota governor, not Sioux Falls mayor, is his ultimate dream job, and the one he first considered before running for City Hall.
And…
The problem, of course, is that the last non-Republican elected South Dakota governor was Dick Kneip nearly half a century ago. Huether is well aware of that historical hurdle and may lean toward a 2018 bid for U.S. House, a race in which voters have been more willing to stray from partisan norms, especially without heavyweight GOP contenders in the hunt.
“When you look at races where you can ultimately succeed and make a difference, the strategists and odds makers will tell you that the U.S. House race is the one that holds the most potential for me,” says Huether, stopping short of referring to Republican candidates Dusty Johnson and Shantel Krebs by name.
And…
“There are people who have known Mike Huether for a long time who still don’t know what drives him,” says Hildebrand, who has been mentioned as a possible Sioux Falls mayoral candidate. “Some might argue that he’s been a strong leader, but saying ‘my way or the highway’ is not being a strong leader. That’s being a strong dictator.”
And..
“Running for statewide office as an independent is a very bad idea,” says longtime Democratic political figure Drey Samuelson, who served as Johnson’s chief of staff for nearly 30 years. “What a Huether statewide race would do would be to divide Democrats and independents, and almost certainly elect the Republican nominee.”
Another option, with many of the same hurdles, would be to challenge a possibly vulnerable Rounds for his Senate seat in 2020. Huether could also choose to make another run at Sioux Falls mayor in 2022.
Huether thinks he can run and win with no organization… And Huether, a former Obama delegate, thinks he has a path to victory by being third man against what will certainly be two major party candidates in any race after abandoning his former party?
Two words…. Larry Pressler.
Here’s a little chart from Wikipedia how that race turned out:
Pressler HAD some loose infrastructure, some loyal former aides, and some loyalties from former voters who remembered him. And he was a former Republican.
Huether? Aside from his massive ego and serving as mayor in his own dictatorial fiefdom in Sioux Falls, Huether is saddled with his former association with the Democrat party and Barack Obama in the state that was among those that detested the former President the most.
Not only is that dog not going to hunt now or anytime soon, but Republicans would salivate at stripping the bark off of him in a statewide race; Governor, Congress, or whatever.
Bring it on.