It was less than a week ago when I broke the story on District 5 GOP House candidate Seth Phillips facing a DUI charge, and getting picked up for consuming marijuana while driving after that arrest.
I did notice one of the local paywalled Watertown media outlets wrote about it after me. (Not sure if they bothered with any credit since they certainly didn’t break the story.) So it’s safe to say that a huge number of District 5 residents are aware that one of the local candidates is working on adding to his rap sheet while he’s on the campaign trail.
There’s an adage referred to as the “First law of holes,” which states “When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.” Unfortunately, Seth is not following this adage in the response he posted to his social media regarding the story:
In his response to the information about his recent DUI and smoking pot while driving charges, now Toby Doeden acolyte candidate Seth is telling everyone that he was also a meth addict and hurt people.
I’m thinking he should have stopped digging the hole after the DUI and Driving while smoking the weed charges. Now he’s telling us there are worse things in his background – but he’s rebuilding!
It’s one thing to run for office years after one puts their life back together. It’s entirely another to do so while the wreckage is fresh on the train tracks, and the flames are roaring. As far as voters are concerned, Seth is still digging the hole, and now they will be asking about the extent of his admitted meth use ..and what does he mean about hurting people?
Did he tell police where he got the meth? Did he help put his meth traffickers and manufacturers in prison? And what about the people he hurt? Is this more in the metaphysical sense, or did he physically assault them, and what were the consequences? He’s just made these things issues to be brought up in his campaign.
Seth is due back in court on Monday morning here in Brookings County at 9AM. And it also looks like he has an old 2023 case (06MAG23-000132) for driving with suspended license & speeding that is still pending becuase the ticket went to collections and does not seem to have ever been resolved, because the balance due as of 3/21/2026 is $400.00.
I’m guessing they might ask about that in court as well. Seth should also include that in his rebuilding plan before he runs for office.
Better he discloses it than the media. He’s got that going for him, which is nice.
Dodo tells us he’s a Trump clone. Trump loves criminals! Can’t stop hanging around them, pardoning them and well even becoming one himself.
Dodo is truly a carbon copy of Trump!
Voters in this state are so stupid they will vote for a criminal judt because there is an “R” beside their name.
Hopefully, he can get a full presidential pardon (throw out state rights, they are moot now); this is nothing, and all these records will be redacted. Those who continue to talk about this will get blocked in some way, maybe throw an ID requirement to the website (to protect the kids). Totally normal things we reference as our “freedoms”, right?
How many “personal mistakes” does a person have before we just say: “You just have poor character?”
It depends on the person. For Trump, there are a lot more; for someone like this, there will be less!
I just want to acknowledge that Pat, as a freelance blogger, consistently breaks serious political news much more frequently than any journalist in the state. The SD GOP is pretty lucky to have him.