South Dakota Republicans have full slate in District 34 with Partridge, Diedrich, & Olson;
going into 2018 with an abundance of candidates across South Dakota
South Dakota Republican Party Chairman Dan Lederman announced today that Republicans in State Legislative District 34 have a full slate of candidates already off and running to represent Rapid City in the coming election. The South Dakota GOP has a filled slate of candidates in with Senator Jeff Partridge planning to run for his current seat this next election. Partridge will be joined in the election by State Representative Mike Diedrich, and newly announced House candidate Jessica Olson, C.E.O. of WellFully Adolescent Care Center in Rapid City.
“Republicans are bringing some great candidates in this upcoming election, especially in District 34,” Lederman said. “In District 34, we’ve lost both Representative Dan Dryden and Representative Craig Tieszen. I served with these gentlemen in the legislature, and I know how much they cared about their constituents. To honor their work, making sure we have good candidates to represent the party as they did is important to me.”
“Representative Mike Diedrich has hit the ground running this session and has his petitions out to continue his service as State Representative. While I wish we could talk Representative Lust into continuing, I know that Jessica Olson will do the party proud as she runs for his seat.”
Lederman also had high praise for Senator Jeff Partridge. “Jeff has been working closely with the GOP on party projects and has been great to work with as we tell the story of Republican Leadership in South Dakota. I know his constituents appreciate him, and it’s good for the GOP to be associated with Senators of his caliber.”
Lederman continued, “While Democrats are happy to announce when they have “a” candidate, we’re starting to prepare for primaries to emerge because of people’s interest in running under the GOP’s banner. It’s the strength of the party.”
“As I look at our candidate notes, with new and returning candidates we’re conservatively estimating we’re starting 2018 with 25 out of 35 Legislative Districts with filled legislative slates in both the House and Senate,” Lederman noted. “We anticipate we’ll be identifying candidates for the few remaining districts within the coming weeks.”
The biggest question Lederman had regarding his opposition in the Democrat Party? “As they’re announcing their candidates one at a time, the question is how many candidates are Democrats going get to run as placeholders who eventually withdraw from the ballot?” he asked. “We’re already hearing reports of placeholders being recruited to run. If Democrats have to run people to give themselves more time to find someone, that might be an indicator that they should try conservative values, instead of trying to bring the values of Nancy Pelosi to South Dakota.”
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