According to the Secretary of State’s office, Minnehaha County Treasurer Pam Nelson is definitely not going to be a candidate in the fall, and has withdrawn her candidacy, leaving Republican GOP MInnehaha County Chair Kris Swanson as the lone candidate in the race.
But not so fast – Nelson could be replaced on the ballot, according to the following timelines on withdrawals and replacements under South Dakota law:
- The deadline to withdraw from the 2020 November 3rd General Election is August 4, 2020 at 5:00 pm local time
- There is no registered mail option for the withdrawal form to be received by the filing office after the deadline
- The office where the petition was filed must receive the candidate withdrawal form before the county central committee(s) meet(s) to appoint someone to fill the vacant candidate spot.
- The deadline for the party central committee(s) to fill vacancies is August 11, 2020 at 5:00 pm local time.
And it’s not just Nelson who is off the ballot and will possibly be replaced – as we approach the deadline we’ll see more and more Democrats who took petitions out to hold a seat be replaced by someone else on the ballot, or concede the election entirely.
In District 17 State Senate, Democrat Ailee Johns took the place of Codylee Riedmann who had filed to be a placeholder in that contest. (Disclosure, yes, that’s my son-in-law, and the fall election might have been awkward).
Democrat District 18 State Senate placeholder Jay WIlliams had already withdrawn and been replaced by Jordan Foos in that contest. Williams’ wife and fellow Democrat Carol Williams withdrew in the House contest in that same district, but has not been replaced just yet.
There are rumors of other placeholders, but they’re facing that hard deadline in 8 days to get their withdrawal form into the Secretary of State’s office, or else they’ll be on the hook all the way into the fall.