WHO’S AFRAID OF THE PRECINCT PEOPLE?
by State Rep. Scott Odenbach (Dist. 31)
A bill with the potential to radically change South Dakota’s political landscape has been introduced this session that would throw out our time-tested tradition of choosing statewide candidates. It should be opposed by all those who would preserve our Republican form of government.
Unlike SB 13 which would change state law to let the candidate for Governor choose his/her own Lieutenant Governor, which most everybody supports, HJR 5001 (https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/24594) would clutter the November ballot with an unnecessary CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT requiring ALL non-judicial statewide nominees to be selected during the primary election, rather than chosen by the convention delegates as has been done since 1917.
Currently SDCL 12-5-21, states:
The state convention shall nominate candidates for lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer, commissioner of school and public lands, and public utilities commissioner and in the years when a President of the United States is to be elected, presidential electors and national committeeman and national committeewoman of the party.
Using this tried and true method, we’ve elected Attorneys General such as Bill Janklow, Mark Meierhenry, Mark Barnett and Marty Jackley; Secretaries of State such as Gladys Pyle in 1927, Alice Kundert in 1979, Joyce Hazeltine in the 1980’s; Monae Johnson in 2022, and long-time public servant and good guy Chris Nelson (who may hold the world record for attending Lincoln Day dinners); School and Public Lands Commissioners such as Jarrod Johnson, Brock Greenfield and Ryan Brunner; Auditors like Alice Kundert and Vern Larson; Public Utilities Commissioners like Kristie Fiegen and Gary Hanson; and Treasurers including Rich Sattgast and Josh Haider.
Not a bad record of good public servants in my opinion! And NOT a system that is broken or needing radical change.
HJR 5001 is a continuation of the outrage expressed by some in the establishment wing of the GOP because too many movement conservatives showed up and caused trouble for their favored candidates at the last convention. To fix the situation, they’d upend decades of grass-roots involvement by “We the People” of South Dakota, replacing it with more expensive, nasty, statewide primaries, cutting off their nose to spite their face while enriching campaign consultants. A never-ending deluge of postcards, ads, robo-calls and signs would follow every two years. All for a bill that had so little support in the legislature last year that it’s now been resurrected this session as a constitutional amendment. If every losing bill is just later referred to the voters, why have session every winter?
A few headlines from the past few years illustrate the high stakes:
“George Soros’ quiet overhaul of the U.S. justice system” (Politico, August 30, 2016);
“How George Soros funded progressive ‘legal arsonist’ DAs behind US crime surge” (NY Post, December 18, 2021).
“George Soros’ prosecutors wage war on law and order” (Heritage Foundation, June 22, 2023);
Who really believes that in a small state like South Dakota, we’re better off letting big corporate donors or out of state interests bankroll and select their favored candidate(s) for our statewide offices rather than local party activists who live here and care about their respective platforms and party principles? Precinct people personify “educated voters,” as they are some of the most involved individuals amongst the electorate. They have put themselves out there to run for office to be able to participate at the convention.
I haven’t spoken to one voter who is asking for this. They want us to protect property rights, balance economic growth with preservation of our land and water, and cut taxes. This is a manufactured crisis by politicos who think they can get their way by buying future elections. Who really thinks that a good candidate for Attorney General should have to raise a minimum of $500,000.00 just to compete with the favored candidate of an establishment able to raise that kind of money with a few phone calls? Who would ever run for Commissioner of School and Public Lands if they needed to come up with hundreds of thousands of dollars just to get in the ring? Who’s ready for Summit Carbon to spend $2 million against Kristie Fiegen next time so they can force their way through our PUC?
All people who love our South Dakota way of life should call their legislators and demand a NO vote on HJR 5001.
If Odenbach…who has a 20-30 year history of backing the wrong issues and candidates, is against this measure, then I am all for it.
He says what? Keep candidate selection in the hands of the few, and don’t let the public have a say? That is what the ELITISTS always argue. “We know better; stay out of this.”
Scott, old boy, we live in a rePUBLIC. Let the public decide.
Sorry Anonymous, but a “rePUBLIC” is a representative form of government where we elect delegates, whether they be Precinct Committeemen, Senators, Representatives, or Presidents. The idea of letting George Soros selecting our candidates is repulsive to me. If you don’t like the ones representing you, then get off your dead ass and run. Then you will find out how many people agree with you.
Scoot is right. It would be just more big money spent and what for?? Characteristically, the turnout at a primary is not that great. Leave it to locals who can run in their precincts, win, and represent the people of their areas. The state convention is what many people in SD look forward to.
Scott….
Scott is keeping big money out of politics. Thank you
And keeping democracy away from the people.
Tordsen should explain why this needs to be in the constitution.
This on its own disqualifies it for me.
Be a legislator and pass a law.
If he can and is willing to ram something divisive through on the margins then make it a law. Those 36 or 37 legislators should be able to own up to it with a simple law.
Nobody is “afraid” of precinct committee people, but when nearly half of them stand up to be counted as not supporting the party ticket, they should be escorted out of the building and stripped of their credentials.
The JOB of a precinct committee person is to get out the vote for the entire slate of nominees going into the general election. When half of them declare they have no intention of doing the job they signed up for, they need to be kicked out. Normally, if you apply for and accept a job, and then refuse to do it, you get fired, fast.
Perhaps the packet of materials sent to the delegates prior to a convention should include a pledge which is to be signed and returned, promising to support the full slate of nominees in the general election, no matter who they are. If the delegates don’t sign it and send it in, they don’t get credentials..
You are incorrect, the Precinct Committee is only responsible to represent the candidate that is the most representative and supported by the precinct. They do not have to support the ticket. The establishment is mad that us Precinct People decided to break up the Governor and Lt. Governor on a Kristi Noem second term. The voters supported Kristi Noem for second term as govenror, but they also elected Precinct People that supported and had the desire to select a different candidate for Lt. Governor, cause the People of the Counties had the desire to control the governor by placing Steve Haugard in as Lt. Governor. Nothing bad there. The people basically said to Ms. Noem – either listen to us, or else…
the job description for the Precinct Committee people reads as follows:
“1. Under the supervision of the county chairman, they have the complete responsibility to conduct the political campaign in their precinct, such as compiling and updating voters lists, contacting voters, registering non-voters, and general voter contact activity.
2. Serve as voting members of the county central committee.”
That is the job description as written in the SDGOP bylaws.
Precinct committee people are not policy makers, and they don’t get to pick and choose which candidates they will campaign for in the general election. They are supposed to get out the vote for everybody on the ticket. If they aren’t going to do the job, they should be dismissed.
We are founded upon the ideal that the public….all of them….should decide. We have fought many military and political battles as a country, pursuing the right of the public to decide important matters, and rejecting the notion that our destiny should be set by the few.
The King of England and the British Parliament thought “the few” should decide our destiny.
We rejected the King and said “Let the people decide. ALL of the people.”
In a one party state, 400 malcontents…admittedly well organized malcontents…. should not decide our destiny.
Convention. Aren’t those the folks that picked a no-name with no legit prosecution experience, who then went on the flash his AG badge at every cop who stopped him? Who lied and said he didn’t know what he hit over on the shoulder carrying a flashlight? Who then bunkered in for 18 months until setting a modern impeachment record?
And who issued one of the dumbest press releases in modern history, shortly after smoking Joe Boever. (A second one was to follow at impeachment time.)
Yup, that nominee was…..the darling of the 2018 convention. Jason Ravnsborg.
So four years later, the convention tried to put in Ravnsborg’s right hand….a “prosecutor” with no serious prosecutorial experience, who as county attorney had the AG office on speed dial whenever a big crime happened in Brule?
Yup, Natvig, who spent most of his AG time torching off 1,000’s of “free” ammo in the DCI building.
Conventions used to do a good job. Now they just want deniers.
This backwards system also gave us Attorney General Car Crash Killer and Secretary Monae. It’s time for voting from the people.
and as for Anonymous @ 11:30 pm’s claim that precinct committee people are supposed to represent their precincts at the convention,
let’s revisit some stats on percentile votes for Haugaard in the primary vs the convention:
Brookings County
26% in the primary, 39% at the convention
Fall River County
22% in the primary, 75% at the convention
Minnehaha County
29% in the primary, 69% at the convention
Pennington County
27% in the primary, 44.5% at the convention
Yankton County
30% in the primary, 76% at the convention
To say that the precinct committee people from those counties were representing their precincts is hogwash.
Don’t blame me (in Brookings) – I voted for Larry!
Anne Beal is SPOT ON! The fact that these counties did NOT represent their counties is exactly why this action was taken. Representation wasn’t happening if you look at the numbers she presented. I don’t support taking out the Constitutional officers from the Convention, but I do the Lt. Governor. The large majority of delegates were attending the last GOP Convention for the ‘firs’t time and you could tell. They were told a lot of lies and were the most disrespectful mob ever seen at one of our SDGOP gatherings. The true Republicans are the ones who have worked over many years to develop the strong, conservative platform we have. NOT these first time trouble makers and whiners. It was such a huge turn off to some of our younger republicans attending for the first time that some said they’d never go again. It’s time to get back to recognizing true Republicans for their accomplishments, the ones who can actually take credit for the Massive Republican Majority in the Legislature, Congress and many county positions. It wasn’t these radicals who are more libertarian than Republican who want the credit and compete with each other as to who is the ‘most’ conservative. Establishment Republicans are the ones who got things done and will continue, while the ‘obstructionists’ are the ones who are destroying our party. Those new to SD Politics need to listen to well seasoned, low drama, common sense people and make that distinction between them and the misfits. A good start would be to go back and read each of Anne’s replies again. You might just start understanding what’s real and what isn’t.
Did Scott just start naming off a handful of half-decent representatives we’ve had over the past 100 years, as if it’s some indication that the system still works? Did he really mention Monae Johnson, as if she would’ve won if she didn’t have a family of Minnesota “Election Experts” and Election-Deniers exploiting the precinct committee system? None of these races really should have even been contested, and those that were, including the LT Governor, (as Odenbach has confirmed himself) were WAY too close for any remote semblance of accurate representation.
You need look no further than the Haugaard farce as imperical evidence as to why we need to do away with the entire convention, not JUST the Lt. Governor position. Majority Republicans DO agree the Governor should pick their running-mate, (WELL OVER 80% if you polled them) so, tell me, how exactly does Haugaard get 44% of the vote against a guy he wouldn’t have gotten 34% of the vote against in an actual primary? I’ll tell you how, because the party is taken over by fear creeping in from other states. Not only was the average IQ at convention shockingly deficient, the propaganda dispersion, the use of young Libertarian groups whose members weren’t even precinct committeemen running misinformation throughout the entire event, rag-headed stoners outside openly detesting “The Republican party MAAANNN” and even the visibly-obvious nonrepublicans who were “Only there because someone told me to” was a disgusting thing to attend as a South Dakotan and made me feel ashamed to be a “Republican”!
It was a circus of Independents, Democrats, and Libertarians who were openly recruited by FreedomCaucus shills so they could traffic votes up to the convention. “Just change your party before the general election!” The Republican Convention is 100% FUBAR. Yes, Scott, it WAS a good system. Back when we had decorum, pride, honesty, and some semblance of unity. The majority of precinct people do not at all represent their precincts OR the will of the Republican party that believes the Gov should choose her runningmate. Those two things can’t be true if Haugaard gets 44% of the vote. Not only was that candidate not supported by the party, but the very concept that the Governor should choose their running mate wasn’t supported either. Odenbach seceding that most Republicans believe the Governor should choose their running mate only further indicates the massive discrepancy between the will of the convention delegates and the will of the actual Republican voter.
Odenbach is about as straight as a dog’s hind-leg on this one. The ONLY people in South Dakota who want to keep the precinct system are the radical right-wingers who intend to exploit it for their benefit in spite of the Republican voter. When was the last time you heard “Speak to your local precinct committeeman!” Never. The current system leaves most county precincts without representation. We should be working to recruit the vote of the people, not fellow church-goers to sign up for precinct committee.
No one is scared of the Precinct people, just annoyed by them. They run to be Precinct Committeemen and Committeewomen and then they go to convention two weeks after getting elected, and then you never see them again. They are supposed to help with the election from June through Election Day in November but they don’t show up to any county party events or days of action to help make calls, knock on doors, etc. etc. We are one of only 3 states that still nominate at convention. Time for a change. Time to let all Republicans have a say on who the nominees are. Not just a small group of angry people with nothing better to do.
I’ve never seen a group more terrified of their voters than a South Dakota legislator.
There are South Dakota Republicans who are proud to be active in a political Party with a long history of successfully representing the interests of the people, funding winning campaigns, and having deeply committed candidates voted into public office. It is an achievement. Then their are people with axes to grind and political theories to promulgate and support who are committed to overthrowing the status quo, field testing their vacuous theories, and promoting candidates of dubious qualification. Which group should control the Republican Party in South Dakota….it’s not a hard choice….if you are thinking.