The Dakota Scout is reporting today that former Speaker of the House Spencer Gosch is actually considering a run for State Senate.
..former House Speaker Spencer Gosch, is mulling another run at District 23’s Senate seat, a pursuit he also made in 2022 before coming up short in a primary against incumbent Sen. Bryan Breitling.
and..
“I am still considering it,” Gosch said.
Read that here (subscription required).
So, let me get this.. The same Speaker Gosch who, among other things, was an obstacle to the impeachment investigation, and held a secret vote on a special session for impeachment, and got blasted for it during the last campaign…
And who followed up his loss with a taxpayer paid Hawaiian vacation..
Gosch, as well as Rep. Jamie Smith, both went on a trip to Hawaii to attend the Council of State Governments’ national conference in Honolulu. They were among a dozen South Dakota lawmakers to attend.
But neither Gosch nor Smith are returning to the Legislature in January. Both are lame-duck lawmakers.
And..
“As God is my witness, I can think of no justifiable reason for the outgoing House speaker, with less than 30 days left in his term, to be at a taxpayer-funded legislative conference in Hawaii,” Hoffman said. “My constituents will not be pleased to hear of it.”
Read the entire story here (subscription required).
..a Hawaiian vacation where he was injured cliff-diving during this important taxpayer-funded conference.
And he is looking at running for the legislature again?
I’d ask if someone was kidding, but Spencer was just that tone-deaf during his tenure.
Do taxpayers have that short an attention span? Who knows.
Maybe he’s planning his next vacation.
Gosch is a fine example of a Scum of the Earth politician. His arrogance and condescension would make any Democrat proud of him. His boldness in trying to run again shows his disdain and low opinion of voters.
The primary battle for District 23 Senate will be a brutal lesson in work ethics. I know of two extremely intelligent gentlemen who will be in the race. And if Spencer wants to run power to him.
If I were an odds maker his chances of winning would be laid out on the parity line. But that only comes after asking for forgiveness for making a huge mistake in going to Hawaii.
This morning it actually felt and smelled like being on the beach in Kailua…. wishful thinking Charlie!! 😎
Who is running for that seat besides Spencer?
Spencer is a good man. If people would look back through the years, they would see a lot of legislators who took unnecessary trips on the state’s dollar. Some of the same ones were on the plane every year.
Sal Roseland, Breitling and Spencer Gosch.
I’d say that helps Spencer Gosch. Breitling will struggle because of his residency issues.
Can you use the words “Spencer” and “ethics’ in the same sentence?
Yes, as long as the phrase “lacks any” is added.
That seems to be something that so few politicians understand, that owning up to your mistakes and apologizing for them goes a long way with other people, including voters. Had Gosch just said, “In retrospect, I can see how that looked bad, I apologize to the voters I work for, and it won’t happen again,” he would’ve found people forgiving, even understanding. Everyone makes mistakes, but when people make excuses or play the victim, voters don’t forgive so quickly.
Inquiring minds would like to know your guesstimate on who all will be running. I know Breitling and he has an impressive record. He wont term out until 2028. Are your projected 2 Gosch and Breitling?
If Brian can prove residency in District 23 and Spencer runs that makes four running. I’m not at liberty to give out the names of the two gentlemen, seriously considering a run for the district 23 Senate seat
I’m so confused. Gosch is being judged harshly for these ethical infractions, yet the State GOP is willfully and excitedly welcoming a man found liable for sexual abuse and has 91 pending criminal charges to their political rally? And UHeep tries to throw Democrats under the bus? This is the current Republican party, full on loco.
Ravnsborg was convicted on 2 impeachment charges for an unfortunate death in Gosch’s district. See the correlation? Carroll is an interesting case from 1990 that suddenly appeared, which in and of itself is suspect. You might also consider the difference between indictments and convictions along with US legal premise of innocent until proven guilty. We still haven’t devolved into a 3rd world despot country despite some minority sentiment driving us in that direction. Unfortunately the crazy train that has been driving this since 2016 has opened a new realm of filing charges on election opponents so we shall see where ethics lead us.
No doubt Gosch made some very poor political moves but I think that is what makes Spencer influential among those who like him. He’s an ass kicker. Just sometimes he kicks his own ass.
Spencer is one of the best. He just needs to learn to play a long game.
He was a highly opinionated, fearless Legislator. The largely Republican voters of his district got tired of his malarky and voted him out. He took one last perk and went to Hawaii where he jumped off a cliff. What else is new with Gosch??
One picture of him doing a hula dance on that trip comes out and the election is over before it starts.
Breitling is an incredible public servant. One of the best in Pierre. An even better human being.
Gosch, couldn’t bother to ever return a call or message. The exact opposite.