This was the craziest election I’ve seen in my 30-some years of being involved in the process. Not only did democrats fare poorly, but they were completely gutted last night, and of the ones who will remain, we almost might be able to count them one hand.
D1 Senate Susan Wismer – Gone, and captured for the first time in decades.
D17 House – 2/2 recaptured.
D18 Senate – recaptured.
While we wait for results in MInnehaha County.. it looks like the trend is running…
D09 Michael Saba – Gone (2/2 seats recaptured)
D13 Kelly Sullivan – Gone (2/2 seats recaptured)
D14 Erin Healy – Gone (2/2 seats recaptured) (Update – Absentee ballots saved Healy at the last minute.)
Plus there’s a impossible possibility that the unbreachable Democrat district D15 might come out of last night with at least 1 or 2 Republicans.. but we won’t know until the absentees are tallied. We should know final numbers later today.
Unless Nesiba in D15 can pull it out in the absentees, you literally have to go to District 26 before you find a Democrat Senator, Troy Heinert. Then you pick up Red Dawn Foster. And that’s IT. 2, possibly 3 Democrat Senators. I’m not sure how they can even cover committees with those numbers.
And another update – Absentees swung this district back. So, Democrats have 3 in the State Senate.
In the House it’s not much better.
D15 remains a wildcard (After absentees, 15 is done with no change), with those races too close to call. But then we have to look for Cwach, Bordeaux, Peri Pourier, Oren Lesmeister…and that’s it. That’s 4 House members, with two unknowns at this point.
If things go badly for Democrats, they could be left with 6 total legislators.
As evidenced by voting trends nationwide, it appears that President Trump energized Republicans to get out & vote in almost unheard of numbers, and they did so here in South Dakota in unexpected and unanticipated numbers.
The GOP appears to have crushed nearly everything in it’s path, with few exceptions.
Forgot to add the District 1 Democrat to your House count. Speaking of which holy crap did District 1 voters dislike their Democrat incumbents.
I actually didn’t add that, because it was held by a dem, and it’s still held by a dem.
No change in numbers, so it’s NBD if they reshuffle the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Lesson for Democrats: If you mimic your national party’s priorities, you are irrelevant in this state. For example, Erin Healy and Jamie Smith thought it wise to oppose putting up the four Mt. Rushmore Presidents in the alcove of the State Capitol, calling it divisive and giving cred. to the tearing down of statues during the arson and looting of our nation’s largest cities. You just can’t make this stuff up. Healy is gone. Smith might even lose in South Dakota’s most blue district not on a reservation.
As big as the shellacking the Dems took, the biggest loser is likely the Argus Leader. Their slanted “news” coverage and extreme left editorials turned them into a moldy library book no
This didn’t age well.
Got that right.