Honorable mentions of 2018…. who else would you add?

I like to call this “a curated list of interesting people” from 2018, no matter if they won, lost, or just caught our attention for what happened in the preceding year.

Kris Langer – The Republican Majority in the State Senate just took a big reset from their 2017-2018 caucus leadership team, elevating Senator Langer from Majority Whip to Majority Leader, giving her the title of the second most powerful position in the State Senate.

Langer arguably has a tremendous pulpit to argue and act as the spokesperson for the GOP Legislative Agenda. And if she plays her cards right, Senate Majority Leader could be a springboard for bigger and better things. It was for US Senator Mike Rounds

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Neal Tapio – Neal Tapio did remarkably well in the 2018 GOP Congressional primary, despite campaign-wise doing nearly everything wrong. Tapio entered the race late, did little advertising, raised no appreciable amount of money, and had an awful campaign staffer in Shad Olson.

Yet, Tapio placed third behind Congressional second place candidate Shantel Krebs who raised and spent nearly $½ million more only to earn just 5500 votes more than Neal.  Tapio is out of politics at the moment. But it may only be for the moment.

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T. J. Nelson – Now Deputy Chief of Staff for Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken, Nelson was TenHaken’s campaign manager, and considered the chief architect of TenHaken’s victory in the 2018 Mayoral contest.

With a campaign that was tested by fire thrown by opponents both high and low, T. J. kept the campaign ship on a steady keel and proved more than an able hand in delivering the seat for TenHaken.

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Justin Bell – While Justin performed behind the scenes work as the South Dakota State Republican Party State Treasurer, the GOP wasn’t just about making campaigns happen through the ballot box. Sometimes they had to argue over the rules, and Justin was the person who made that happen.

Whether it was holding the Constitution & Democrat Parties to the letter of the law or arguing to restore Lance Russell to a candidacy he’d resigned from, Bell’s legal work made things happen for the GOP time and again in 2018.

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Lee Qualm – When the Kristi Noem Primary election tour went around South Dakota in the hours before the fall primary election, Qualm proudly caravanned on the bus, and donned a Kristi Noem for Governor T-shirt for the tour, leaving no illusions over who his candidate for Governor was.

Handily fighting off a challenge to his return to serving as House Majority Leader in November, Lee Qualm has been in the forefront of state politics all year. Whether it was managing the fallout from a House Caucus internecine squabble, or simply acting as the voice of the GOP house members, Qualm will continue to be one of the most visible members of the GOP Brand.

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Dan Lederman – It’s hard to talk about the Republican Party’s success in 2018 without talking about the man elected to head the organization.   Some might call the Republican Party chairmanship similar to herding cats, but under his leadership, the State Republican Party has managed to maintain cohesion and deliver results in 2018 despite a bruising primary. Under Lederman’s leadership, the Republican Party had what most observers concur was the best organized and well-attended State Party Convention in memory.

The chairman is called upon to make sure the GOP has the funding needed to conduct election efforts, which they did handily. Importantly, Lederman guided an effective fall campaign effort for the SDGOP, which emphasized early voting, and getting the slate of candidates in front of GOP voters again and again to deliver a win.

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So, who else should be considered for honorable mention, and why?  Sound off in the comment section!