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.
If I were them, I’d probably keep it low key too. Anti incumbent sentiment is always a thing, and this year is particularly bad for it. They probably assume they have a good shot at a few pickups so long as they avoid any gaffes.
“Quiet” means poor Pat didn’t get included in the press release. Prolly a good reason they left you out.
grudznick hoped that Mr. Kloucek, the least effective in the legislatures ever, might have been voted up for the Auditor or Treasurer slots where he might succeed with some success and become a bit effective. In the Utilities Commission he will just again be relegated to being outvoted, and uneffective. Perhaps that’s where his skill and experience lie and why the Democratic fellows put him in that slot.
Some real all stars here:
Raeann Mettler just lost a race for Spearfish school board. Last year she lost a race for Spearfish city council.
Tom Cool has lost at least 2 statewide races and 5 runs for State Senate.
Margaret Kuipers has lost 3 runs for State House.
Terrance Davis says on his website he wants to pre register 16 year olds to vote and wants automatic voter registration when turning 18.
Ms. Kuipers has been but a gnat about the various girthy spots of Mr. Karr for some time. He can wave her away, but he cannot mash her. Mr. Cool, a swell enough fellow by some accounts, is probably outshadowed for the Auditor spot by Mr. Kloucek. And if you can’t get elected to school board or city council, why not just jump into a head-to-head wrastlin’ match with Mr. Brock, the potato chip late-night legend hisownself.
And, what’s the problem with preregistration to vote?
Many states are already doing that, so do your research.
Where did I state no other states did this? Just because other states do it doesn’t mean it’s a terrible idea. Do your research and read my post
If they’d bring back the blue dog coalition I think they’d gain more ground.
The Blue Dog group was a populist movement inside the Democratic Party. Trump’s initial populism that became MAGA took all the oxygen away.
There’s a fecklessness to populism which I hope that Trump’s world record promise-breaking has exposed for all to see.
So called “Blue Dog” democrats either changed their positions to the left or were voted out in primaries by liberal democrats. There is no room in the democratic party for a blue dog anymore. Name me one elected democrat who is pro life?
Same can be said of the GOP. The far right boots out anyone who doesn’t agree with them.
So whoever wins the Republican Convention is the next PUC Commissioner.
Buhmuller any day.
Buhmuller any day.