Senate Bill 40, which proposes to bring all Republicans into the process of moving the primary process of selecting several constitutional officers from the Republican State Convention to all voters at large has passed another hurdle in the House State Affairs Committee.
On a vote of 8-5, the Committee moved the measure to the floor with a “Do Pass” motion to allow all of those registered with a political party to vote in the June primary for the State Auditor and State Treasurer the same way that they do their County Auditor and County Treasurer, referring these offices to all Republicans (and Democrats).
I’ll have more on this after I have some time to listen to the committee hearing. At least on the Republican side, when people argue against it claiming that it somehow takes it away from “the grassroots,” that is not a cogent argument. Because what is more grassroot than ALL Republicans? Or should these offices continue to be decided by an elite few?
And as part of the discussion, it’s time for another history lesson.
In the 1990 GOP convention when GOP Chair Dwight Adams (Doing double duty as Mickelson re-election chair) threw the doors open to bring more people into the process in exchange for precinct peoples labor, it was lauded as an expansion of the process. In fact, I wrote about it in Dakotawarcollege’s early days waaaaay back in 2005:
Dwight took the party representation for the State Party convention and blew it wide open. He went from having county representation comprised of only a few select individuals on a county wide basis to opening it up to dozens or more per county. He opened up participation and guaranteed that precinct level representatives would be part of county delegations at the state convention. What he did was in effect a molding of the command structure of the party to a military model. It was an organized and well defined structure from the state chairman at the top down the precinct level.
The system was transformed! The “carrot” was that the precinct level people could vote for the candidate of their choice and on issues at convention. But in turn, they also had to be active in precinct level activities, such as poll watching, etc. This in turn gives the party a literally endless pool of volunteers and activists – activists, many of whom someday might be candidates.
With the simple change of a set of rules, the number of people who attended conventions exploded. While the loyal opposition still might be pushing 100 or so for their convention, in some years the GOP has had numbers exceeding 800 or more. (Why do you think Frank Kloucek sometimes makes an appearance at our convention? It’s where the people are). County GOP meetings have people attending simply because they identify themselves as precinct people – another positive effect.
I would make the argument that no other single factor has helped ensure the party’s continued electoral success than making it more participatory. It’s not that people didn’t identify before – party registration numbers illustrated that – but more people than ever could dig into the nuts and bolts work that happens behind the scenes with the party.
You can read that entire piece here at Dakotawarcollege Classic.
The issue that has come about since I wrote that piece in 2005 is that there’s a lot of the precinct process that has changed in the years since 1990. Technology has made precinct watchers obsolete. The phone tree has been replaced with auto dialers and call centers, and a lot of their job has gone away. But, while the call to action for working together has gone away, it’s been replaced in some cases by those who have no interest in being representative of their communities for the GOP, and are more interested in weaponizing the process. These are the people who are recruited for one candidate, only to vote and never be seen again. These are the same people who complain incessantly that when a convention is held, it should all be a free lunch, as a number attempted to do in 2022.
If there is to be a change in the role of the precinct people, there needs to be an evolution of the process. Just like in 1990, the process needs to expand. And what would be more of an expansion than to let ALL Republicans choose their candidates, rather than the few. Because what’s the worst that can happen? That we’d be like the other 47 states who don’t use this process anymore? There would be an outbreak of Democracy?
Opponents claim that only the wealthy would run for these positions. Unfortunately for them, that’s a completely BS argument. There will be no more wealthy people trying to buy these offices in a primary than they do in the general election. If anything, making it a process that is more open, and encourages more candidates applying a reduced number of signatures to gain access to the race. Getting six or seven hundred signatures is much less intimidating to the uninitiated than trying to access a group of 1000 party insiders, especially since phone numbers and e-mails are not given out for them.
And really, what is the argument going to be to a Republican constituent who isn’t a precinct person when they ask why legislators voted against letting them vote in the primary for State Treasurer or Commissioner of School & Public Lands? Are legislators going to tell them they aren’t informed enough? That they can vote in the General, but when it comes to the primary, they can vote for Senate, Congress, Governor, and then jump down to legislators and county officials, but the ones in the middle are a special selection for only those in the know? THAT would go over well. (sarcasm here)
I would argue that nothing would be more revolutionary and evolutionary than opening up the primary process to all Republicans.
Along with that change, it could be a new dawn for the GOP. The party could be fully empowered to revise their charter and instead of having a selection convention, move forward and have an actual party endorsement convention, like many other states do, including North Dakota. It would reap a benefit for those who do participate. Why not let delegates put their stamp of approval on all primary candidates, as opposed to just a short list of 5 or 6? They would still get an up or down vote and provide guidance.
Now, I’m sure there are those who disagree with me, and that’s ok. But I think most would agree that we should do something to change the way things are now.
The question that needs to be answered is whether the GOP holds on to 1990 and tells Republican voters at large that their input isn’t needed. Or do we expand the process for all Republicans?
I think the Republican Party is a big tent, and that hearing from everyone isn’t a bad thing. If we can trust our voters to make a selection in the primary for US Senate, Congress & Governor, we can add a few other races to the list.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Lederman is reinstated as chair if SB 40 passes.
Lederman would have killed this bill already.
Pat Powers, you nailed this one right on the head. The bill gives a vote to ALL people, not just the Maddicts. (People addicted to being mad.)
Why have a legislature? Lets just have everyone vote on everything? Direct democracy baby.
Like legislators in a democratic republic, convention delegates are more engaged and better informed than Republicans at large. They generally nominate candidates who are both more principled and, when they’re able to get their messages out, more electable.
Monae Johnson never could have raised enough money to overcome Steve Barnett’s name recognition in a statewide primary, but that isn’t what this is really about.
David Natvig never could have raised enough money to get Laura Kaiser’s story out to less-engaged Republicans and nearly defeat Marty Jackley in a statewide primary. Giving Jackley even more incumbent protection for 2026 is what this is really about.
Another Jackley nomination would once again alienate principled Republicans and keep the general election in play for Democrats, and the Jackley crony who conspired to leave him unopposed in November is no longer the Democrats’ party chair.
SB-40 is a terrible idea that would be a defeat for Ronald Reagan’s legacy of idea-driven politics and a victory for the unprincipled wealthy and well-connected.
David Natvig announced his run less than a month before the convention and came close to beating Jackley. Why? Because of who showed up — a big group of those delegates were ready to tip over Jackley and Rhoden. And Natvig is no Jackley in terms of prosecution, legal, and political experience. That office was a mess under Ravnsborg and Natvig.
Anonymous at 4:40, Monae Johnson got her seat by pandering to ignorant election deniers, who are now annoyed with her because she has not driven all the RVers off the voter registration rolls. Her ability to be nominated for a second term is now questionable.
Natvig didn’t need to get Laura Kaiser’s story out there; Noem did it four years earlier. Everybody heard it, they don’t need to hear it again. That “me too” crap is OLD, overused. It doesn’t work any more. Meanwhile, had Natvig been nominated, Randy Seiler would have mopped the floor with him because of his connection to Ravnsborg and lack of experience.
However, this bill is poorly written. It still allows for conventions for unfilled positions. This is a terrible idea. If we go that route, legislative vacancies should be allowed to be filled at convention in some way. Either have a primary or don’t.
Jordan, the process of filling legislative vacancies already involves a mini convention of the central committee members of a legislative district. Many of them are the same people who serve as delegates to the state convention, but unlike the state convention, they include elected officials from the same party..
This where is gets interesting: when a placeholder drops out and a candidate replacement needs to be chosen, the district central committee (the members of the counties’ central committees who reside in the affected district) is called to convene. These meetings usually occur in July, a few weeks after the state convention, but can occur any time between the primary and the 2nd Tuesday in August deadline.
And guess who doesn’t show up? The precinct committee men and women, that’s who. It’s the precinct committee men and women, especially if the counties involved in the district don’t have a county party chairman, who don’t show up.
When you hear party members complaining that precinct committee men and women disappear after the state convention, we aren’t exaggerating. They won’t even show up to select a replacement candidate for their legislative district. And since they seem loathe to share phone numbers and email addresses with anybody who might be interested in contacting them (say there is more than one person interested in filling a vacancy who might be courting votes) it appears they intentionally vanish. They’re ghosts.
First someone has to file and withdraw though.
it happens often enough. A placeholder will file for the primary to hold it open while the party tries to recruit a candidate who actually wants it. If the precinct committee people were as informed as they think they are, they would know if somebody is actually running or is a placeholder. And they would know they are supposed to help find a replacement candidate.
One need only to have attended the last SDGOP convention and talked to these people to know that many of them were just bat-shit crazy and not at all informed. They hadn’t even read their own job description.
And you are afraid of them? You only prove you are undeserving to lead or be of influence.
Anonymous at 8:16 AM: fear and irritation are not the same thing. These supposedly “informed” precinct committee men and women had not even read their own job description, did not understand the purpose of a party platform, and did not understand that fund-raising is one of the functions of a political party.
So the next election of Constitutional Offices is in 3+ years from now. We just elected a new GOP chair who is doing everything any one person could do to ignite and unite the party. Give the guy a chance, and give the PARTY a chance & see where we are at least a year from now. This bill is poorly written and covers 2 subjects. Allow the Gov to choose a LT. Gov and give the party a chance to modify the process. The crazy has to go away. How do they think we obtained a super majority in this state, and elected some of the finest people we know to those offices? It was WITHOUT them. The best thing many of them can do for SD Republicans is to go back to what they were doing before they felt they needed to be relevant by being destructive. Is any legislator smart enough to come up with an amendment by tomorrow?
Do It Right, the Republican party has been kicking it around for YEARS. Time’s up.
And it isn’t just the Republican Party. The state Constitution Party was destroyed by its own convention. Had their candidates been listed on a primary ballot, they would have been nominated in a civilized manner.
The Governor should not choose his or her own Lt. Governor ever. That violates the confinement placed on the position as established by the Constitution. The Lt. Governor is chosen by the majority of votes taken by the Counties, Precincts, and Districts, of whom act by a grass roots movement of elected representatives elected by the people themselves. In a true grass roots movement, the people vote to choose persons to represent them at public meetings, commissions, and finally at conventions to allow the Counties and Districts and Precincts to choose their very own choice for Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Auditor, Public Utilities Commissioner. The true grass roots movement is established allowing for public discussion, debate, and concurrence of the people, and by the people as they attend committees, commissions, and finally send their elected representatives per each County, Precinct, and each District to a Convention to vote as the very people wish them to per each representative area. What the established, and career Republican Members are not telling you is that by choosing these positions by popular vote allows for 10 Cities, or the 10 most largest populated urban centers to out vote and disenfranchise the rural area, let alone strips the majority of the “State” of equal right to choose choose their candidate as oer a 1 District, 1 County, 1 Precinct choice. Representative Jon Hansen is correct, it will dump tons of money into the system, let alone forces the At-Large Candidates to travel more often across the State to reach out to as many people as necessary to earn their vote, whereas today, they currenlty need to remain in their own district, allowing the County and Precinct Committees to hold public meetings, commissions, and conventions in all parts of the state to encourage strong republican debate, let alone to allow each county, and precinct to have equal say. This is part of a national movement to encourage a popular vote on all At-Large Representatives to be chosen by a popular vote, including the President. This is exactly what the establishment of national partys want, they want to destroy what it means to be a Republic, and move us closer to a Direct Democracy. Shame on any such person who feesl the national party interests have your interests at heart. If this establishment have their way, they will remove from us, the Electoral College of Delegates also.
PP – great history lesson. Dwight Adams was an old military man, and he was a great fit for party leadership at the time. In the 1980’s, there was obviously no social media, email, mobile phones, etc. So they set up this structure of precinct people to do the work at a grassroots level to call voters, put up signs, go door-to-door, organize events, etc. With today’s technology, much of that work has been centralized and automated. And most of the precinct people have proven they won’t do the work – many just want the vote at the convention because they were recruited by one candidate or another.
Agree with you that this is a good bill to give the power back to all the Republican voters. If I’m not a precinct person or county chair, shouldn’t I still have an opportunity to choose who my candidates are? I find it interesting that many of the current statewide office holders are the ones grousing about this. They like being able to court a couple hundred regular delegates, and then find an additional few dozen friends to show up. It’s really been that simple for those office holders for many years. But the threat that the crazies try to take over the convention every four years should have them very concerned.
Simple fact is that primary voters will choose much more moderate candidates to proceed to the general election than the collection of people recruited from the fringes with their heads full of conspiracy theories.
I have a few concerns if this bill passes.
1) GOP party shrinks and have people register independent/npa.
2) More mailings, messages, etc. with more candidates trying to reach a broader audience maybe leading to voter fatigue?
3) Smaller party with the possibility of lower fund raising amounts.
Just a few concerns. Thanks.
I have a few concerns if this doesn’t pass: The SDGOP conventions will be over-run by deadbeat dads and lactation consultants, who will nominate their fellow travelers to these positions and, because of the Republicans’ dominance, will actually get them elected. And then everybody will suffer.