It’s a slow week, so who the Democrats are (or are not running) for constitutional office is a huge topic of discussion. And I’m amazed that even with the Democrat State Convention starting on July 8th, there is still no word of them running any candidates for office.
And really, who do they have among them who is seeking a higher profile of running for a constitutional office? Who are they going to run? It’s not like the top of the ticket races where they say year after year “maybe we can get Billie, or Stephanie, or Brendan,” even though none of their dream team wants to move forward with a major race, much less a down-ticket affair. With an almost unprecedented void of Democrat Candidates this election, I have this suspicion that Randy Seiler has earned a new honorary recognition among Democrats this week – “Randy Seiler: most likely to have his calls sent to voicemail” as he tries to scare up interest.
What’s the lay of the land for Democrats in the constitutional offices?
Jamie Smith’s call might be the second least-desired call as he seeks a Lt. Governor candidate. This one is taking a while, so we’ll see what he comes up with to try to balance the ticket.
There’s likely no Democrat attorney who wants to get out and run for AG, because they know that’s an automatic loss against Marty Jackley who has it buttoned up among Sheriffs and States Attorneys.
Secretary of State might have an outside chance of some national money behind it, but even with token take-one-for-the-team money, that’s a pretty big gamble for a candidate. With Monae Johnson able to claim experience with the SOS office, they can’t just put up a warm body as they have in the past. They have to have someone with a “hook” into capturing people’s imagination as to why they should be in that office.
Auditor & Treasurer will be tough for Dems, because they have to find someone who can self-fund for these offices with no constituencies. School and Lands might be able to draw someone, because of Brock Greenfield’s controversies a year or so back, but once you get past one press release, the candidate will have to have their act together, because that issue isn’t in the limelight anymore, alongside the fact they’ll be taking on a very experienced campaigner in Greenfield. Plus, Brock is fully backed by the GOP, whereas Democrats’ resources are far less.
There’s a rumor or two about the Public Utilities Commission race drawing an anti-pipeline candidate, but again, that’s a double edged sword as they’ll be setting themselves up to be anti-development in a race where the pro-development people have money, and the protesters don’t. And they’ll be running against a known and experienced Chris Nelson fully backed by the Republican party in a Republican state.
Not a lot of good options for Democrat candidates at this point.
So, who do you think they’ll run? And be realistic.
Sioux Falls Democrat Tom Cool, a former journalist who ran for state auditor in 2018, will carry the party’s platform to the November ballot in the race for Secretary of State. He’ll go up against Monae Johnson, the GOP candidate who knocked off incumbent Steve Barnett on a campaign that honed in on Republican disatisfaction of the 2020 presidential election.
