While the Democrats are trying to figure out who gets to be in charge of chair rearrangement on the Titanic after the 2018 Election cycle, after a successful year winning all of their statewide races, and once again returning historic high numbers of South Dakota Republicans to the State Legislature, the State Republican Party’s Chair Dan Lederman and Vice-chair Linda Raisch announced their re-election bids today.
Also noted in the e-mail is that that the other members of the GOP’s leadership team (Secretary Marilyn Oakes, and Treasurer Justin Bell) are also planning on running again:
I’d re-elect Lederman, Rausch, Oakes & Bell. Sure, certain things can and should improve, but (ultimately) Lederman and his team got the job done. Kristi won. Dusty won. We swept the constitutional offices & we have commanding majorities in both chambers.Let’s keep Dan.
An ED would be a good move for the party. I think that is the one weakness they have.
Very solid idea. I see the wisdom of recruiting an exec as well as a skilled, savvy Data Director to get things rolling for 20 & 22.
The Democrats had no credible GOTV in 2018, so Dan won.
That’s one way to view it. Had all democrats run picture-perfect political campaigns, they might’ve harvested more votes. You can say SD dems lost the election or you can say the GOP won it. You could argue SD Republicans, if more organized, unified, & tech savvy, would’ve run up gigantic margins. Maybe so, maybe not. I’d say SD dems recruited several good candidates, tapped wealthy out-of-state donors, knocked on doors, weaponized facebook, worked smart phone apps, and by these diligent efforts made certain statewide races, incl. governor, closer than expected. Certainly, the dem TV ads (at least those I saw) looked slick and professional. To my eye, Dan, Kristi, Dusty, Jason and others battled hard & fought off strong challenges. Hence, Chairman Lederman accomplished enough, IMHO, to merit re-election. But then I’m a deplorable conservative, so what would you expect?
JKC,
With the SDDP hapless, it is hard to know how good we really are. But, more than good enough.
Frankly, Democratic Rockstars almost win – Herseth ’02 and Sutton ’18 – while Republican Rockstars always win. The Dems are missing the GOTV, that George McGovern once taught them.
You make a solid point. SD Republicans can’t sit on their hands & expect to keep winning. 2020 promises to be a loud, ugly national campaign, with Billions spent. SD Democrats will be energized; their 2018 showing proves the GOP must up its game. I’d hire smart staffers now. No wholesale changes — rather, incorporate new blood into the establishment. I’d keep Lederman as party chair but add some effective lieutenants.
Indeed, Mr. Jones, it might seem like the Vince Lombardi Packers are drubbing it up on the Harding County Ranchers high-school team, but until there is some sort of real competition in the neighborhood the GOP probably shouldn’t be all that smug. It’s like when your mean uncle would come to Thanksgiving and arm wrestle your little sister who was 5, and not mess around but just slam her little hand down, and then he danced all around with his arms in the air courting your cheers. Then your dad set him down and gave him a whatfer in a fair contest.. .
I’m not as good as I once was, but better then I ever was. TK
My only question was why did Kristi under perform so much to Dusty’s big win?
I believe SD republicans should really start putting money into tech to keep the advantage they have.
Leadership deserves credit but I’d like the above question answered. The post op is as important as the operation itself. We can always do better.