Legislators are signing on to Senator David Johnson’s Senate Bill 40 (7 Senators and 10 House members so far) to revise how political parties do the business of nominating their candidates.
But it’s more of a limited approach to put a bandaid on things, as opposed to wholesale revision of the process.
Senate Bill 40 proposes to fix the issues that vexed delegates attending the Republican State Convention, along with a few other changes:
- A candidate for Governor shall select a candidate for lieutenant governor and certify the selection to the secretary of state no later than five p.m. central time on the second Tuesday in August of the year of the election.
- Attorney General and Secretary of State removed from the list of offices nominated at party conventions, meaning they would be nominated by petition.
- A political party may only hold a state convention for nominating purposes in an even-numbered year.
- A petition for a party’s candidate for attorney general or secretary of state must be signed by not less than one-half percent of the voters who voted for that party’s gubernatorial candidate at the last gubernatorial election
- Parties shall notify the secretary of state of the date and place of the party convention at least thirty days prior to before the date chosen. (Not 15)
- Associated changes for independent, new party, and alternative political status candidates.
You can read the text of the entire bill here. As well as follow along with how the bill progresses here.
This reform measure fixes some of the headaches that the GOP has experienced over the last several election cycles in their convention process. But I can’t help but wonder out loud about how we’re determining where and how we draw the line, and whether it should go farther, adding State Auditor and Treasurer, and possibly Commissioner of School & Public Lands to the list of those nominated via petition.
Public Utilities Commissioners are not constitutional officers, so they could certainly stay as they are. But I’m hoping for a more logical reasoning on the change than not caring for the convention challenges in those two races.
This bill will probably not see much activity this week, especially considering the Republican State Central Committee is meeting Saturday morning, and the bylaw changes proposed at that meeting may guide the hand of legislators on how to fix the situation that keeps coming up in front of the delegates.
But once that meeting happens, I’m sure it will be go time on SB40.
Pulling the Lt. Gov from the convention is an obvious move given the connection to the Governor candidate.
Definitely not a fan of turning AG and SoS or the other offices over to the best fundraiser.
If the Republican brand wasn’t overwhelmingly superior in SD perhaps we’d need better campaigners to win in Nov but the current system is producing strong performers in office which just continues to bolster the brand.
The convention has also proven an adequate method to vet incumbents that aren’t performing up to party standards that you probably couldn’t achieve in a primary.
Big problem: Great Congressional candidates raise around $100k a quarter (3 months).
How much can multiple AG and SOS candidates expect to raise to run for office in a primary against other Republicans while Governor, Congressional and Senate candidates are also raising money?
There is only so much money to go around in SD primary politics. On one hand it makes them better candidates. On the other it makes the pie slices even smaller.
Lawyers and States attorneys will be known regionally and that will make it hard to raise the money to run.
No one even knows who the 3rd candidate is in a Congressional primary.
Once we get past US Senate and gov people are not engaged.
Now we will expect them to know 4 candidates for AG and 3 for SOS.
Well, as one of the disgruntled precinct committee women said in a platform meeting prior to the convention said “I tried voting in the primary and it didn’t work.”
That was why she was determined to go to the convention and “fix” things, because voting in the primary “didn’t work.”
Obviously the establishment, AKA the electorate, is voting incorrectly, and must not be allowed to decide these things. If they don’t nominate the right people, the precinct committee men and women will have to attend the convention to make a stink about it.
I’m tired of humoring people who demand everyome aquiesce to their demands while seeing their own intransigence as honorable. The more we give, the more they take. Pass the bill. Enough.
when you hold the opinion that an election “doesn’t work”, it’s pretty clear you didn’t win over the majority to your side. blame either the weakness of your loopy argument, or the insufficient size of fear you were able to generate among the voters, and do better next election.
perhaps at the next convention, the swag bags should include pacifiers and diapers
Let ALL the republican voters decide — not just the convention. It’s too easy for one or more motivated individuals to stack a convention. The convention was dead wrong on Ravnsborg. And almost tipped over Rhoden. No more nonsense. Pass this bill.
well in all fairness to the Ravnsborg delegates, they were unaware of his character flaws. It was Lance Russell who brought the mob of stray cats to the convention, which jumped on the tables at the governor’s dinner party, sprayed all the doorways in the motel, and took John Fitzgerald down with him.
The Republican Party led by it’s Executive Board and their top brass are forgetting about the foundational principles of our country, and the direct ties between At-Large Representation and the Landowners, Property Holders, the very people who make up the “State” shall have the direct power to ‘choose’ who they wish to place on a public ballot.
[**Snip** – Mike, I warned you about the manifestos. Less is more. Make your point.]
Sincerely,
Mike Zitterich
Precinct 05-22
Minnehaha County