Normally I would have worked on a post such as this a week ago, but to be honest after an incredibly busy 2020, I was enjoying my time off from work before diving back into it with what I anticipate will be an already busy 2021.
I thought it would be a useful exercise to go back, and tick off what I think are the most important South Dakota specific political stories of 2020, with a few notes why. So without any further fanfare, here are the Top Ten South Dakota Political Stories of 2020
Top SD Political Stories in 2020
10. Record number of women elected to SD State Legislature.
As Governor Kristi Noem shattered the glass ceiling in state politics, while maybe not a primary motivator for the women who ran for the South Dakota State Legislature, I can’t help but believe it at least affected attitudes in some way among Republican women, who captured a massive percentage of the seats won by women in the South Dakota legislature.
Over 30 years of being involved, I can honestly say that it seems that we’ve largely moved past the days when people would vocalize that “women should be home with the kids instead of serving in Pierre” to an attitude that “it’s ok for dad to help hold down the fort while mom heads to Pierre for a few weeks.” And that’s ok.
9. House members bring accusations against Senators.
The relationship between State House and State Senate members hit a new low when early in 2020, members of House Leadership including the Speaker of the House Steve Haugaard and the House Majority Leader Lee Qualm brought accusations against the Senate President Pro Tempore Brock Greenfield and Senate Majority Leader Kris Langer claiming they participated in the last day of session while inebriated.
Neither of the House Members actually witnessed the behavior giving rise to the accusations, but they were glad to make hearsay accusations that after headlines and accompanying folderol, ultimately ended with an “admonishment.” Or as the committee said, “the committee didn’t find that Langer and Greenfield violated the rules banning the storage or consumption of alcohol in the Legislature’s areas of the Capitol and disorderly conduct.” Yet even though it ended in a “meh,” the damage was done via publicity.
Langer withdrew from election, and while running unopposed, Greenfield did not win another term as President Pro Tempore among his colleagues. Yet the accusers didn’t go unscathed either.
In trying to move to the Senate, Lee Qualm, with few allies found himself historically decimated in the Senate primary by newcomer Erin Tobin. And Haugaard was utterly ousted from House leadership, with the incident being the culmination of a very rocky leadership term for both House members.
8. Dems fail to run Congressional Candidate to their own doom.
“Hey, do you remember that time when Democrats didn’t run a congressional candidate?” Well, that was 2020, and it didn’t do South Dakota Democrats any good. After having two relatively decent candidates (for Democrats) the State Democrat organization faltered so badly that they could not assist either candidate with successfully completing signatures, leaving Dusty Johnson a wide open field.
Sure, Johnson had a Libertarian on the ballot to face, but it wasn’t a challenge that required any degree of effort. So what did Dusty change with his campaign team, ready for action after being honed in a primary election. He didn’t change anything. And that meant trouble for Democrats.
Not in his race mind you, but he kept his team out campaigning and encouraged them to be a rising tide that lifted all Republican boats.
7. Liz May fizzles for Congress.
In 2020, former State Representative Liz May launched a campaign from the right against Congressman Dusty Johnson. At least.. her Texas based consultant did. Because from the time May announced most of the effort came across on facebook while May largely stayed at home claiming COVID.
Liz managed to be ensconced in her home area until Mid-may, but by that time her anonymity with the at-large electorate of South Dakota was guaranteed.
Sure, Liz had her supporters, such as State Representative Tom Pischke who claimed she was the “True Republican” in the race.
But the claim somewhat fell flat, as Liz May found herself crushed 77-23 in the primary.
6. SD GOP Sweeps Legislature.
There was no other way to say it on the night of the election other than “Republicans seem to be setting the stage for amazing and unprecedented wins.”
And when the dust settled a couple days later (thanks to the Minnehaha County Auditor’s inability to complete a count that night), there was no doubt. The South Dakota GOP set a new modern benchmark for the number of Republicans in the South Dakota Legislature.
What set the stage for it? For starters, Democrats conceded a great number of seats before the races even began. Individual GOP candidates gave exceptionally strong performances in many campaigns. And there was more.
As they have done for a couple of elections under Chairman Dan Lederman, the State GOP provided support for legislative candidates in the form of slate mail and other support. In many cases, it was like a submarine attack where they listened where things needed help, and brought in more subtle support bolstering name ID.
From the results, it certainly worked as election night came and went leaving Democrat ranks decimated even further with only 3 Senators and 8 State Representatives.
And with re-districting coming up… that’s kind of a bad time for Democrat’s election efforts to have collapsed on them.
Stay tuned for part 2..
