South Dakota Democrats appear to be on track for abandoning Gov’s & Congressional contests

Just over 60 days out, March 29th is a big day coming up in the South Dakota political world. This is the deadline under which partisan political candidates are operating to turn in petitions for office. It’s a scramble that’s begun in pursuit of the highest offices in the state where many are collecting petition signatures.

But for two of the highest offices, Congress and Governor, there is nothing but an endless void. Democrats have yet to announce a candidate, and they are literally running out of time for their people to collect the nearly 1800 signatures needed to place their person on the ballot:

Signature Requirements for Statewide Offices on Petitions Filed for the 2022 Election

U.S. SENATOR, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE & GOVERNOR
Republican
: 1,730 signatures (1% of the vote for the 2018 Republican gubernatorial candidate – 172,912)
Democrat: 1,615 signatures (1% of the vote for the 2018 democratic gubernatorial candidate – 161,454)
Libertarian: 50 signatures
Independent: 3,393 signatures (1% of the total vote for governor in 2018 – 339,214)
New Political Party: 250

Read that here.

As the calendar pages turn, lacking a person willing to run for office on the Democrat ticket, it makes it far more challenging to organize volunteers to get out to collect signatures.

Remember last election when they had two congressional hopefuls? They had willing and running candidates much earlier in the process, and they still lacked the ability to collect the signatures to get on the ballot. Now with the time to collect 1/3 of the way gone, even if they can find someone, it’s just that much more challenging to get the job done.

This means that Congressman Dusty Johnson could get a historic second bye in the race for Congress, once he handily disposes of Taffy Howard in the primary.  And even more shockingly, Democrats seem currently on track to give Republican Governor Kristi Noem an unobstructed path to a second term as Governor, once she bypasses the Haugaard for Governor primary campaign.

If Democrats did not have former Independent Brian Bengs switch parties to run as a Democrat, they would likely be including US Senate in the number of top of the ticket races they’re seemingly abandoning for lack of a candidate.

The clock is ticking. And for Democrats, time is nearly up.

13 thoughts on “South Dakota Democrats appear to be on track for abandoning Gov’s & Congressional contests”

  1. Their focus has been on Cannabis ballot measures. After that not much motivation. Talk about voting against their own interests. Voting for their own party building & voter suppresion measures and then blame Republicans. Today’s SDDP is working to cancel itself out.

  2. It used to be that, in order to remain a legal political party, the party had to run a candidate for governor and get a certain percentage of the vote. So the Dems would have HAD to run a candidate for governor, or else they’d no longer be considered a party. There would be no Democratic primary or convention and their candidates would all have to run as independents.

    The Legislature changed that, though, so that now you remain a party so long as you run a candidate for ANY statewide office in two consecutive elections, and the candidate gets 2.5% of the vote.

    SD Dems had a candidate in 2020 (Ahlers for US Senate) and they look like they’ll have Brian Bengs for US Senate this year, who will certainly get 2.5% of the vote. And even if Bengs fails to make the ballot, they’ll nominate a candidate for at least one of the down-ticket offices.

    Meaning, this is the first time that a party could leave the Governor unchallenged without losing their status as a legally recognized party.

    It’s kind of hard to believe the Dems would actually let Noem go unchallenged, but no one is exactly stepping up to be the candidate.

  3. And I think we need to give a big shout out to thank the now Nebraska resident (and who appears to be now working for the State of Nebraska Dept of Ed?) CAH for doing his part to bring the SDDP to this deserved level before he left the great state of South Dakota!

    1. One could speculate with the impact CAH has had on the SDDP he would be getting a substantial under the table payment from SDGOP’s own section 31. The SDGOP will disavow any association with CAH.

  4. Why yes….yes we will be dancing and celebrating upon the demise of the South Dakota chapter of the National Socialist Party. Doesn’t it just chap your a$$ that the loony left has little to no sway in SD!!

        1. And you’re the typical SD liberal. Bitch and moan and complain about the Republicans and how it would be so much better if only we were more liberal and had instituted more liberal policies, etc. So move…there are plenty of “liberal paradises” to choose; Portland, Seattle, San Fransisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Washington D.C., New York, Baltimore, etc. Liberals have controlled these places for what, 20, 30, 40, or 50 years or more? We all know the answer why you won’t leave SD.

  5. Anon 12:51; No need for the GOP to engage in your imaginary gerrymandering. Reps outnumber Dems by about 127,000 statewide. With 35 legislative districts, that means, on average, over 3600 more Rs than Ds in each district. A few districts, very few, actually have more Ds than Rs. So much for your misguided thoughts.

  6. Perhaps the candidates are not needed? We are a fairly moderate state as seen by ballot initiatives passed. Dusty and John are both good leaders and represent the state. If we had a radical, I could see more demand, but right now, I don’t see the demand or need with what we have in DC.

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