At what point is it appropriate for the chairman of the SDGOP to meddle in primary elections?
Don’t ask former 32-year Democrat Jim Eschenbaum, as once again he’s shooting off his mouth to the media about one of our elected officeholders, and inserting himself into the next Gubernatorial primary:
“I think Governor Rhoden did very well this legislative session,” Eschenbaum said. But he said there is still plenty of time between now and the primary election on June 2, 2026.
Eschenbaum told South Dakota Searchlight that many Republicans he speaks with are critical of Johnson. A name they like is state House Speaker Jon Hansen.
Hansen would sometimes be introduced as “our governor” during rallies in opposition of Summit’s pipeline.
Just another reminder that he comes to the job of SDGOP chair not with the greater interest of the party in mind. He arrived with his own agenda, which involves elevating his cronies into higher office.
I’d like to hear ideas about what we are going to do to fix this. The party is now fronted by some of the weakest minds in politics. I’m hearing that several new legislators didn’t even know that a bill had to go to committees or pass through both chambers. They don’t even know the process! How do we get sane, intelligent people back into the party? As stupid as most of this rhetoric sounds to most of us, it gains a lot of traction with the those who show up to vote. I’ve never seen so many vapid faces staring back when you try to explain simple bills or the consequences of bad bills. Now our state party is run by these ignorant, self serving extremists, whose goal is to keep the rest of us out.
Geez. It’s not a mystery, folks. Just look at the Fake News Purveyor in Chief currently residing in the White House — and his Cabinet picks, carefully chosen for their rabid loyalty, and their utter lack of other real qualifications. Rabid loyalty to Trump is the largest common denominator of SD’s wacko legislators. Just like at the White House, no other qualification comes close to mattering as much as that rabid loyalty.
Except for the fact that many cabinet members have open spoken out against Trump in the past. So, yeah, your theory doesn’t really add up.
They are the biggest bunch of weak minded ill informed idiots he could find
It all comes down to 2026. We need to get normal people back onto the county committees. That’s where it’s all stemming from.
To do that, we need to get normal people to be precinct committeemen and women. PLEASE encourage all your normal friends to run! Then they can elect normal people to run the party.
There was one line in the article that made me think..
“Doeden told South Dakota Searchlight he and his family are praying about whether he should enter the governor’s race.“
Unfortunately, the image that came to mind was this one:
He is a fraud.
“President Trump likes winners and leaders who can deliver, something Rhoden clearly lacks the ability to do,” Doeden said.
Like Mark Robinson Toby?
Lol. That ain’t no lie
That kind of talk will only further divide the party. Primaries should be decided by the voters. When the chairman of the party is critical of one candidate and supportive of another, it alienates many Republicans from the party. Those kinds of comments will cause Johnson’s supporters to stop giving money to the party or supporting its efforts. And it will make it harder to unify the party around the winning candidate, regardless of who wins. There is a good reason why party leadership is supposed to stay out of primary races, but I guess Eschenbaum doesn’t understand that or doesn’t care.
How else are challengers suppose to compete against incumbents? I don’t necessarily agree with everything he says but all they ask for is opportunity. Taffy Howard when she ran for the U.S. House race was begging to have at least one debate with Dusty. I don’t believe if Jim allows debates doesn’t necessarily mean he’s endorsing challengers.
Example: When Katie Washnok was chair of the Brown County GOP, she would permit forums to allow Republicans an opportunity to express their views against the incumbents for State House & Senate seats before primaries. She never endorsed anyone but felt it was the right thing to do.
Now with the new chair Rich Hilgeman, I’m not sure that will end up happening.
Challengers did just fine against incumbents last session. Give me a break.
Huge difference between allowing a forum for two candidates to have a debate and openly attacking one specific candidate.
Agreed.
Hansen will jump on any soapbox he can find to draw attention to himself, so we really need him to get on board with the plan to shoot down commercial aircraft.
Like when he was for pipelines before he was against them?
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/south-dakota-passes-law-to-discourage-keystone-xl-protests/
The only time in all of US politics where MAGA has actual power is primary time. Because they’re a thug-ocracy, and most Republicans who allow it maybe don’t like what MAGA does, but they’re wiping out the right sort of targets right now so let them work. I’m sure many a German Lutheran in Hitler’s day told themselves that they’d oppose Hitler, well ok maybe AFTER the Jew thing is handed, but then look out buddy.
We need loyalty oaths and bloodletting ceremonies so Jim can really separate out the nonbelievers.
The party is not supposed to get involved in primaries. Period. This is ridiculous. But I guess that’s what you get when the person running the Republican party voted for Obama… TWICE!
Any candidate whom Eschenbambam supports will not get a cent from me and will not get my vote.
This is crazy. Hanson would lose to a democrat in a statewide race. Propping up the most dim, radical person in the primary is a great way to lose a general.
Absolutely right.
I was a republican for forty years—a Reagan style republican. After the Tea Party called us “RINOs” I left. If Ronald Reagan were back and could run again the MAGAts would destroy him.
Personally got the assault weapons ban passed
Only president to grant amnesty.
Eliminating favorable treatment of capital gains compared to labor income ( but he’s the only president other than Eisenhower that lived on labor income)