I’m looking at the lists of candidates, and with some of the Democrats, I’m noticing some are awfully familiar. I had mentioned Alanna Silvis in Watertown, and I was noticing Holly Boltjes in Hartford… and It got me wondering “how many of the Democrat Candidates are placeholders?”

Both Silvis and Boltjes participated in the Dem’s placeholder shuffle before… so, why would we believe either are running for real this time? Silvis performed the function last election, and Boltjes has done it two or 3 times.  In fact, Boltjes was originally a placeholder, and had awful Congressional candidate Paula Hawks dropped in her spot one election, and went on to win.

So, why would this election be any different?

Anyone in the field have any specific reports about the placeholder status of any of the Dems running this year?  Leave a note under the comment section, and let us know.

SDDP Chair Ann Tornberg has filed petitions to run as a candidate for House in District 16.

How is that supposed to work when it comes time for that party to help out the candidates on that side of the aisle?  Hmm?

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” – George Orwell.

Alanna’s back in the race!!  Do you remember Alanna?  Of course you do! Democrat placeholder Alanna Silvis!   She gave us a reason for a great post a couple of years ago, and according to the Secretary of State, she’s placeholding again for District 5 House.

You don’t remember Alanna? Hm. Short memory. Well, here’s an excerpt from my old 2014 post:

 

So, I think it’s safe to say that Silvis is not unaware of what goes on in elections, having almost run before, and I believe her mother is also the Codington County Democratic Chairman.  However, when it comes to Silvis’ social media, before she decided to run for office, you would think that she probably would have cleaned it up a bit:

(I redacted the profile photo, as it appeared to be a child).

These aren’t the only examples, just some of the more notable ones. It’s pretty bad when there are posts that are so profane that they would need to be redacted just to put them out on a postcard.

Read that all here in it’s profane glory.

Boy, she makes a great candidate for the Democrats, doesn’t she?  Maybe the third time will be the charm. (But I doubt it).

My head hurts after reading this.

But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. She points out she has a number of voter registrations to turn in.

How exactly are those valid signatures on her petitions if she hasn’t turned them in yet?

Tom Daschle has finally bitten the bullet, and has given up on using the loophole in the federal lobbying laws that bears his name.

Because as of a couple days ago Daschle has signed up to be a lobbyist:

Under the statutory definition of a lobbyist, policy advisers don’t have to register if they avoid direct contact with lawmakers or spend less than 20 percent of their time lobbying. The provision became widely known as the Daschle loophole.

Daschle has maintained that his activities didn’t qualify as lobbying, but those who worked with him said he didn’t want the scarlet L to jeopardize his prospects of returning to public office. His nomination to be Obama’s health secretary was nevertheless thwarted by a tax error. He still became a key adviser to the White House on the Affordable Care Act.

Daschle previously registered with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act to represent Taiwan. He’s currently promoting a book co-authored with his Republican counterpart, Trent Lott, now also a lobbyist.

Read it all here.

There’s an interesting story this AM from KCCR Radio that two of the people involved in the mishandling of GEAR UP program funds may also have some ‘splainin’ to do in terms of how Lower Brule Schools have been run for the Reservation:

A new report from the US Department of Justice indicates over 1.3 million dollars in federal grant money was spent on unallowable costs on the Lower Brule Reservation.

According to Arvind Ganesan from Human Rights Watch, two familiar names Scott Westerhuis and Stacy Phelps, were also a part of the flow of money…

Read, and listen to the story here.

Apparently, the entity under question, AIII, had been brought in to run schools for the reservation.

In the face of many primaries this year, there might be one less. According to the Secretary of State’s web site, Republican David Bergan has officially withdrawn his candidacy for the GOP Nomination for the Senate contest.

Alex Jensen had been looking at it, but had not filed papers, and decided to pass as well.  Unless another challenger emerges, Jack Kolbeck will have the opportunity to have the GOP Nomination all to himself up until the fall campaigns start. (Not that he’s going to complain).

Charles “Chuck” Haan is climbing up on that old horse to give it another try.

This past election, he had tried to sue to get on the ballot after being nominated by the Constitution Party. Not by filing petitions or anything mind you, he just did it on their say so.   And he just didn’t fare very well.

He also tried to sue Kristi Noem in 2013. And did about as well as he did getting on the ballot. In other words, he got his silly butt kicked all over the courtroom.

Fast forward to 2016, he has petitions to run as an independent candidate in the District 5 House race. And they’re actually filed in a proper manner.   Wonders may never cease.  But that doesn’t mean his candidacy is going anywhere.

Stay tuned.

Today, Milbank City Administrator Jason Kettwig announced his candidacy for the District 4 House race as a Republican.

Kettwig noted “I have been a Milbank resident for the since 2003. I have owned TJ since July of 2003. I have been the cut administrator since June of 2005. I have been in the military for the past 21 years. I spent 4 years on active duty and the remainder of the time has been spent in the South Dakota national guard. I have deployed twice once to Iraq and once to Afghanistan. I am currently the battalion commander for the 139th Brigade Support Battalion in Brookings SD.”

“I am running for the District 4 house seat because I feel I bring a unique amount of experience to the job. With my experience in local government I feel that I can bring a real world perspective to Pierre that benefit the small communities in district 4. I love and appreciate the small town way of life and will work to ensure that the small communities have a voice in Pierre.”

When asked how it would affect his position with the City of Milbank, Kettwig noted, “If elected there will be an adjustment period for the city of Milbank however every business or employer that sends a representative to Pierre has a similar adjustment period. It is the nature of our representative form of government. I will still be available to the citizens of Milbank during the legislative session.”