While many look at the long stretch of months between the last legislative session and the end of 2021 as the doldrums of politics when little to nothing is happening, it’s actually an important planning period for those behind the scenes.
For potential candidates, it’s a time to float trial balloons about running. Because next year, they have to actually produce, and get go collect signatures. Which is more complicated than just saying that you’re running.
Even more importantly, for serious candidates it’s a long uninterrupted stretch for fundraising, which is why you see those engaged in the process beginning their efforts. It takes a long time to gather the amounts necessary to sustain a statewide candidacy. This is the marathon part before next years’ sprint to the finish.
Same goes for political parties. This is the time when they build their machines to try to follow through to a successful next years’ election.
Now that we’re in the build-up for 2022, what are the parties doing?
South Dakota Democrats currently find themselves with two field directors, but still searching for the organization’s third executive director in so many years during financially and electorally rocky years.
Former State Senator Pam Cole had lasted approximately one year after historic losses by the party. Before her, Stacey Burnette managed to last from early August to late October in 2019. (Before she and party Chair Paula Hawks abandoned ship because of disastrous party financial issues.) Before that Sam Parkinson lasted slightly longer as Executive Director from June 2017-April 2019, when state Democrats showed a few signs of life, but still lost the presidential race in the state by 30 points and were crushed in the state legislature.
While Democrats are claiming in recent interviews that they’re searching for an executive director, why is there is no job advertisement on their website anymore? The job closed at the end of January, and remains unfilled.
They also made an announcement that the national party may dump some money into the state. This is nothing new, as National Democrats dumping money into the state on a monthly basis has been their life support. Literally, it is one of the only things that have kept their doors open over the course of the last three years. So, this will not be a big change in routine.
Comparatively, the electoral process for South Dakota Republicans has provided far more success than their Democrat counterparts have experienced with far fewer staff.
South Dakota GOP Chairman Dan Lederman is currently in the midst of his third two-year term of office, beginning in February of 2017. Favoring a more hands-on managerial style, he has been running a lean shop with a number of functions outsourced on an as needed basis.
In the previous two cycles, Lederman had been able to successfully coordinate party efforts, improving on them every time as he’s fostered an environment conducive for the GOP to expand their hold on the number of Republican voters in the state, which currently give an advantage of 144,000 more Republicans than Democrats.
Unlike Democrats who seem to be distracted with ballot measures, and many things which are not the function of a political party, Republicans under Lederman have managed to strengthen already historic highs of the number of Republican elected officials.
What I’m hearing is that Republicans don’t have any significant revisions planned, and according to their chairman are going to be doing many of the same things that have brought them good fortune in the past several cycles. Chairman Lederman recently commented to me that “Candidate recruitment is key to success,” indicative that the party is already in that part of the planning cycle.
With the Sioux Falls area having had more attention from the GOP last cycle, I’d watch for efforts to continue along that vein.
There’s likely more brewing, but that seems to be the undercurrent of discussion at the moment on the GOP side.
While it continues to be quiet on the surface, we’ll continue to keep an eye on things as bubbles of activity begin to form.