Now that there’s a GOP Primary, who are Democrats going to run for anything?

Now that there’s a Republican Primary on the horizon in the US Senate race, what’s the current prognosis for Democrat candidates at the federal level for either US Senate or Congress?

In the Congressional Race, the only one who had indicated interest in taking on ‘the human energizer bunny‘ known as Congressman Dusty Johnson, was self declared Democrat Socialist Ellee Spawn.

Except after filing her first FEC report showing she raised less than $5 in all of 2018, Spawn also went underground, taking her campaign website offline in May.  And there’s the matter of the warrants seeking Spawn’s appearance before a judge, which as of this morning (according to Minnehaha County) remain in force as they have since last year.

It’s kind of tough to run a campaign, when you could be led from the stage like an episode of law & order.   (Remember kids, if you have information regarding someone with an outstanding warrant, do not approach the person. Instead, please call or e-mail the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office or local Law Enforcement.)

In the US Senate contest, it’s an even more dismal scenario. So far….

For South Dakota Dems in the US Senate contest, there is utterly nothing out there but crickets.  The word is that Billie Sutton still has his eye on Governor, not US Senate, and the latest chatter is that (allegedly) he might first prep for Governor by challenging Senator Rocky Blare.

I’d say ‘good luck with that’ (in a most sardonic tone.) Blare is as solid a grassroots campaigner as the GOP has.

Who else could practically run? Ray Ring is the only Democrat termed out from the legislature this coming year, which is a pretty short bench. But Ring isn’t known as being an ideologue.

Former Sioux Falls Mayor Mike Huether burned his bridges with Dems, abandoning the sinking ship in 2016 when he declared himself an independent. So that isn’t likely.

Getting to the people Dems fantasize as running, there really are only two. And they’re not seen to be in contention anytime soon.

Former congresswoman and current Augustana University President Stephanie Herseth Sandlin recently committed to taking her school to Division I, filling her dance card for the foreseeable future. And being a University President is a pretty good gig. Frankly, I don’t see her coming back to electoral contention for many years to come, unless the Democrat Party shifts back to a more moderate state.

Former US Attorney Brendan Johnson just filed papers for a ballot measure for a statewide amendment to the constitution for legalizing pot, which would keep him busy in 2020 if he’s fronting an organization seeking to do that. Plus, Johnson is like Herseth, in that Brendan has a good and relatively recent gig with his law firm. He’d likely be several years out, and would be more likely to go for an open seat.

If we shake the magic eight ball for a Democrat running for either Congress or US Senate in 2020, at this point I’d venture that it says “Very doubtful.”