The factions of the South Dakota Constitution Party can read it and weep.
This afternoon, Sixth Circuit Court Judge Patricia DeVaney has granted the SDGOP’s request for a writ of prohibition against Secretary of State Shantel Krebs’ certification of any candidate nominated by the South Dakota Constitution Party for either of the announced Constitution party conventions noticed for August 14th.
Judge DeVaney is scheduled to hold a hearing on the matter on August 16th.. which might not leave any time for the Constitution Party to actually do anything, given they’re somewhat a disorganized mess without any leadership. And that August 14th is the last day for a political party to hold a state convention:
That might be a problem for the Constitution party.
So much for Shad Olson’s grand plan to be Governor!
Stay tuned!
If Krebs would do her job the Republican Party wouldn’t have to waist time and resources doing it for her.
Secretary Krebs is handling this almost perfectly.
With the obvious exceptions of Lori Stacey and Terry LaFleur, the Constitution Party is handling it almost perfectly.
And Judge DeVaney is handling it almost perfectly.
The hearing will most likely show that Lori Stacey failed to legally resume her duties as chair after Lora Hubbel resigned in February 2017, the convention notice filed by Lora Hubbel as chair pro tem is valid, and the subsequent election of Gordon Howie to replace Joel Bergan as permanent chair is also valid.
Contrary to Pat’s claim above, the party is nearly the opposite of a “disorganized mess without any leadership.” They’ve held multiple meetings, elected a full slate of party officers, and worked steadily with the secretary of state’s office to clean up the mess Lori Stacey left behind.
Increasingly notorious legal bully Dan Lederman will probably have egg on his face when this is over, and some Republicans may pay dearly for it on Election Day.
What are you smoking?
Legal bully insisting that others follow the laws? Waa waa, cry me a river.
Legal bully attempting to deprive South Dakotans of the freedom to vote for Constitution Party candidates, and forcing Constitution Party members to bleed time and financial resources into an unnecessary court fight.
You have to follow the rules to play the game
Republicans have routinely rewritten the rules to keep other parties out of the game. That’s why the state got its clock cleaned this year in a ballot-access lawsuit.
Lederman seems to be a slow learner.
Which is an utterly false statement. If the constitution party wants to be an actual political party instead of a clown car, there are actual laws and regulations they are required to follow.
Yes there are, but more than 12,600 South Dakota voters supported the Constitution Party candidate for public utilities commissioner in 2014, and it seems unlikely to me that any judge will keep the entire party off the ballot merely because the convention notice was filed by a chair pro tem, especially considering that the chair pro tem was acting with the full approval of the permanent chair.
Great news!!
this should be good.
Could they be more dysfunctional? Exactly right PP!
The nominations will go forward. This really won’t stop the process.
Both groups will likely hold their conventions before the court date, however at least one slate will not move forward and IMHO it’s quite possible that neither group will be certified.
This is not rocket science
The Central Committee of the Constitution party either set a time and place for a convention or they did not there should be some minutes.
That would eliminate one of the two proposed conventions… either convention a or convention B was authorized both I doubt were authorized.
Next when they were authorized who was the chair?
Did that person properly notify the Secretary of State 30 days prior to holding the convention?
Just before they were set to convene three weeks ago, Constitution Party members learned from the secretary of state’s office that Lori Stacey hadn’t legally resumed her duties as chair after Lora Hubbel resigned from that position in February of 2017.
The legal chair was apparently former vice-chair Joel Bergan. The central committee almost immediately authorized the 9 a.m. convention on August 14, and while the party was working with the secretary of state’s office to determine the legal chair, Lora Hubbel submitted the convention notice as chair pro tem.
The notice was submitted on July 13, which is 32 days before August 14.
The notice for the 11 p.m. convention was submitted by Lori Stacey, acting alone, on Sunday, July 15. Her “faction” of the party has essentially dwindled to Terry LaFleur and herself. The rest of the party has since held multiple meetings, elected a full slate of party officers, and worked steadily with the secretary of state’s office to clean up the mess she left behind.
Abusing the legal system and clogging up the courts to harass perceived enemies seems to be standard operating procedure for Dan Lederman. As Leo Kallis noted on Thursday, some Republicans apparently fear the loss of socially conservative voters who might find the Constitution Party appealing more than they fear looking like a high school bully kicking a kindergartner.
The rest if the party has had secret meetings to elect a slate…very democratic..not
Party meetings aren’t secret. If you’d like to become involved, I’d recommend dropping Gordon Howie an email.
That’s right. He knows what’s going on. He’s been a member of the constitution party for what, two weeks now?
Joel Bergan has voluntarily resigned from the central committee, and Gordon Howie is the current party chair.
Sounds fishy
There’s nothing fishy about it. Unlike Lori Stacey, Joel Bergan actually cares more about building the party than he does about feeding his own ego.
If the Constitution Party Central Committee has had meetings and elected officers, why didn’t it send a certification to the SOS stating who the state chair is? Maybe they would have avoided this mess if they had done the basic paperwork a party is supposed to do.
Yes, the party would have avoided this mess if Lori Stacey had done the basic paperwork a party chair is supposed to do. Pretty much everyone except her (and possibly Terry LaFleur) admits that.
On July 17, the secretary of state’s office instructed the party to certify who holds the office of state chairperson “prior to, or simultaneous with,” the presentation of the certification of nominations on August 14. It seems reasonable to assume the party intends to do so.
If the C party is so “crazy” why do they care if they are on the ballot? Maybe they aren’t so crazy.
What is wrong with a little competition? Let the voters decide. It’s that age of Q so anything goes now.
They are narristic
I hope Barnett cleans house that office has been in the gutter since Chris Nelson was termed.
i was concerned about democracy when i began reading this article and message thread, then i remembered that none of it matters.