Nelson claiming ‘many’ asking him to run for Governor, Congress, despite limited path forward.

Pat Powers

In his usual thin-skinned manner, State Senator Stace Nelson took to Facebook yesterday to attack an unnamed blogger (me, I’m assuming) as a RINO because I had offered the following notes from the field about the possibility of him getting into a statewide race in 2018:

Insiders don’t expect State Sen. Stace Nelson, who placed third in the 2014 US Senate primary, to jump in a major statewide race in 2018. I’ve had people cite both health and lack of funds as reasons he’d likely stay out, although as recently as this past legislative session, it was noted to me that he was trying to talk people into it.

If Nelson would decide to run for statewide office this cycle, as an underperformer in 2014 at the statewide primary level, his only realistic path may be in a Constitutional office where the GOP Nominees are chosen at convention. At convention, the delegates tend to be more conservative, and may accept him as a nominee. Generally, the path after that is easy, as Democrats provide only nominal opposition, if any at all.

Read that here.

That report triggered Nelson to take to social media to make the following attack/statement:

While the first paragraph is typical Nelson boilerplate rhetoric which he rolls out the derisive term ‘RINO’ as others would use ‘and’ or ‘the’ in a sentence, the second makes a claim that ‘many’ have asked him to get into either the Gubernatorial or Congressional contests.  

That claim seems dubious, however, as neither offer a realistic path forward for the candidate who prefers a style of campaigning that relies on bombast and attacks that some consider unfair and dirty politics.

In the Gubernatorial contest, normally aligned Lora Hubbel and Stace Nelson have had a rift develop with some citing her entrance into the race as causing friction between the normally allied pair, as they would be splitting the same universe of conservative voters were Nelson to enter the race. With Hubbel in the race, there is simply no room for Nelson.

In the Congressional race, Nelson’s typical campaign braggadocio would run up against the reality of his previously mentioned inability to raise the level of funds necessary to conduct a statewide race. A deficiency that would likely hobble him to a third or fourth place finish. 

Why? It’s just basic math & history. By the time of the 2014 US Senate primary, Nelson raised an anemic total of 131k aggregate total across the entire duration of the primary, a figure that his likely opponents, Shantel Krebs and Dusty Johnson, have been raising quarterly.

While Nelson might give a top office bid in 2018 lip service for his loyal Facebook friends, the reality of the situation is that even were he to make the leap, a realistic path forward for either race does not seem to exist in this reality.

35 thoughts on “Nelson claiming ‘many’ asking him to run for Governor, Congress, despite limited path forward.”

  1. Prediction would be Stace would end up getting 3rd place unless Larry Rhoden were to add his name just to get under Staceys skin and without Larry even campaigning with his name just on the ballot Stace Nelson would get 4th.

    Hubblecraft? Distant

    no not here

    no not here either

    Hubblecraft very distant last place

        1. Can he really? I’ve heard he is telling people he will put $250k of his own money into the race. But I’m told that is all he has.Tapio isn’t a Steve Kirby sitting on tens of millions. He has several hundred thousand dollars.

          If he self funds and comes up short then he’s broke. So I’ve been told by legislators. They also are concerned that he is a one issue candidates. Stace has a plethora of issues he can talk about.

          The other issue is Stace is really more inclined to run for governor. If he’s going to talk about EB 5 and Gear UP then he would be better off to focus on state issues than federal.

          2. in marketing, and a campaign is a short term marketing, perception is reality.
            The perception is the gear-up and eb-5 issues are state agencies flubbed. It may have been federal dollars, however they were to be overseen by the state.

            I would hope he would focus on what is positive in the state, rather than what’s wrong.

              1. no one is ever going to follow Stace and Lora unless they want to be on the losing team.

  2. That’s what Rounds raised for his entire gubernatorial run in 2002.

    Kirby and Barnett raised $2.5 million and $1.7 million.

    However lighting still needs to strike somehow.

    I went back and looked at the old posts. Dusty hasn’t topped $130k in a quarter yet. So maybe Nelson still has a chance.

    1. Nelson is too well known now to have a chance of winning any statewide office.

      1. So name recognition isn’t the key; name recognition with a positive opinion is?

        Nelson has no chance.

    2. Doubtful. Dusty raised 105k, and 127k in that order in 2 quarters.

      Stace raised 57k, 31k, 28k, and 18k across 4 quarters. Sorry, but it didn’t before in 2014 & I don’t think that dog going to hunt in a 2018 big race.

      1. You helped Dusty raise campaign funds in Q4 2016. $300.00 suggests you wouldn’t support Dusty’s opponents.

        1. Aside from it not being germane to the topic at hand, like many Republicans, I occasionally send money to candidates.

          Dusty has always been pretty decent to me, and more important than that, an exemplary mentor to each and every one of my kids who have gone through the TAR program. Most importantly, agree wth him or not, I’ve always found him to be honest.

          So, yes, you’re darned right I sent him some money to go towards his campaign. There may be others I support, it just depends on whether it moves me to write a check (and if I’m flush at that moment).

          I would encourage everyone to support the candidate of their choice.

  3. If “many” are asking Stacie to run, then I as a South Dakota citizen am
    asking him to NOT run. Please don’t embarrass yourself or this election cycle. Be grateful you continue to somehow be elected by the people of your district. Be a legislator until you wish to retire or until the people vote you out. Simple as that.

    1. I second that emotion. Stace, DON’T RUN! A handful of hangers-on asking you to run does not a win make.

  4. Stace Nelson has no chance running Statewide. He is a novelty like Laura Hubble.,

      1. get their ass kicked….but stace doesn’t have the guts to run anyway. HE IS CHICKEN…all blowhard talk …no action

      2. Yeah, eachother’s! Neither one has a chance, and your endorsement is hardly likely to make the needle move a bit (unless to the negative).

  5. I strongly encourage Mr. Nelson to run.
    If he does not, he is afraid of Mr. Rhoden again.

        2. I don’t think Ravnsborg is a Hubbel and Nelson supporter, so putting them in the same category is uninformed. Who is it you support so I can make up stupid pairings and sit back and think clever I am?

  6. Conservative as to turn all our state highways and county roads back to gravel and save money?

  8. It’s an open seat and “path forward” is nowhere if one doesn’t run.

    If Nelson, Tapio and others want to join Johnson and Krebs, I encourage them to do so. Let the people speak with the choices presented to them.

  10. I live in Mitchell and know the Nelson’s. Same old Stace from what I have seen. I haven’t heard of any new health problems. I know of people who have encouraged him to run and I would like to see him run.

    In my honest opinion, the GOP needs some major house cleaning and we all know Stace would do it.

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