Dakota News Now is reporting that State Senator Jamie Smith is already looking for another political job as he prepares to join the race for Sioux Falls Mayor:
This is coming after serving as State Senator since January of this year, giving him a tenure of 5 months as State Senator. Smith previously had been the Democrat candidate for Governor against Kristi Noem in the last election, receiving roughly 35% of the vote, closer to 45% in Minnehaha County. However, Noem did out-poll Jamie Smith in both Minnehaha and Lincoln Counties, which make up the Sioux Falls Metro area.
State Rep. Greg Jamison was also expressing an interest in the article linked to the facebook post.. but that comes at at interesting moment, after Jamison has aligned himself fully with the Hansen for Governor effort, endorsing him for Governor after he was named as a House Majority Whip earlier this year. In a contest for Mayor, it might earn him some endorsements from the Hansen confederates, but not necessarily all the legislators, by far. Not to mention it does little to reach out to the City’s heavy financial hitters needed to run the mayoral contest.
The 800 lb gorilla yet to tip her hand, and not mentioned in the article is SD Trucking Association/SD Auto Dealers Association President/CEO Christine Erickson. Christine is a former member of the South Dakota House of Representatives and at-large member of the Sioux Falls City Council, and is expected by many to announce her intentions for the race soon. Having previously served as the at-large Council member, she has the advantage of having ran city-wide on a couple of occasions. She will likely be the person to beat in the contest, having wide contacts in state politics, and significant resources to draw on.
There will be others, Joe Batcheller, the zombie guy, and another one or two rumored, but we’ll see. The field will tighten up quickly as the next big race in South Dakota politics heats up.
Stay tuned.
“the City’s heavy financial hitters needed to run the mayoral contest.”
It would be nice to get a grass roots candidate vs yet another Sanford adjacent yes man.
Someone who wants to put cops on the street vs building yet another monument to themselves.
None of the above, please. There has to be better candidates than these.
Will Mr Smith resign from the legislature?
Dakota News Now ran a story on the evening news about this, carefully edited to omit any mention of Jamison running for the office himself, and giving viewers the impression he was endorsing Smith.
You have to read the full article to see what they left out of the story they aired.
The one that literally says “…Rep. Jamison considering a run” in the headline? https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/2025/05/28/jamie-smith-announces-candidacy-sf-mayor-rep-jamison-considering-run/
not that one, Jamison had not announced yet when they ran the one I saw, which was cut off before they got to the part about Jamison considering a run for the seat himself. Maybe they ran the whe thing at a different time
You would think after two failed attempts at mayor already, Jamison would get the message.
Pretty sure Sioux Falls changed the structure of their city council to mirror the delusions Trump has about the executive branch. I would love some new drama out of Sioux Falls from a “dictator liberal radical”. Mike Z and the rest of the whack packers are getting old.