This weekend in the Attorney General’s race..

Pat Powers

A few things happening in the race for Attorney General on the Republican side of the aisle.

I shared a table with John Fitzgerald on Friday night at the Lincoln Day Dinner, and he happened to hit delegates with a mailer on Saturday, touting his bonafides, and his endorsement from Pennington County State’s Attorney Mark Vargo:

While Lance Russell and his wife were at the Brookings County Lincoln Dinner, they had an event for one of their daughters, and had a stand-in at the Mitchell Dinner on Saturday, where I’m told Senator Stace Nelson credited Lance for being his mentor.:

And of course, AG Candidate Jason Ravnsborg was on the trail pressing the flesh and speaking to delegates in both Mitchell and Brookings:

51 thoughts on “This weekend in the Attorney General’s race..”

  1. Most of the people I talk to are leaning towards Fitzgerald. They give good reasons. He’s the least risky.

    Russell might be a dark horse because he has the conservative bonafides.

    Should be a good race between these two.

    1. you are so out of touch…I don’t know a single person supporting Fitzgerald.

      Then he puts flyers out like this…Mark Vargo is supporting him….enough said to NEVER vote for him

      #expostfacto

  2. Tona Rozum and Mike Vehle were absent. A little smaller crowd this year. Senator Nelson gave a great speech for Senator Russell. The souviners from the Russell campaign were a cool new hung this year.

    1. Lance is Stace’s mentor….oh dear Lord…so Lance created this fool….and they are proud of it.

  4. I agree. Fitzgerald looks like he’s gaining momentum. He’s by far the most qualified so it wouldnt surprise me if he won. The GOP needs quality leaders and that is why he has such good word of mouth going for him down the stretch. The delegates I talk to are backing Fitzgerald.

    2. Again with a comment about most qualified, are you kidding. Fitzgerald has little to no leadership or management expertise. Fitzgerald is the least qualified.
      The fact he is hanging with Stace now at the dinner last night is a perfect example of why he is not qualified.
      No delegate I talk with is switching to Fitzgerald at all. Sorry, he is in very last place.

  5. Fitzgerald is the only choice. If you have ever talked with the man it’s reasonable to say he does his job for the victims of crimes. What happened to his family should never happen to anyone. He lives to seek justice. He eats ,breathes, and lives for the law.

    1. I agree, no one should ever work for the mafia like his father did.

      I think it is REPREHENSIBLE that he tries to spin that story into a positive reason to vote for him.

      2. His father died the presiding judge in Pennington County. He was smart, sophisticated and was one of the most interesting men I ever worked with, yes worked with.

    2. Gee, I think there are a couple others in the ballot, and one of them has proven leadership over a large group of people, unlike Fitzgerald. Ravnsborg is very qualified and he is fresh and vibrant instead of stale and lackluster.

  7. It was John E. Fitzgerald Jr.’s refusal to convince his client not to turn state’s evidence that garnered him the kiss of death. The boss did not want him to rat and wanted John to convince him not to rat. John refused and the boss kissed him on the cheek good bye. This is how the mafia lets you know you’re done.

    1. What I find interesting is “THE BOSS” as you describe him was close enough to John that he was trying to get him to convince a witness and kissed him good bye meaning they already had a relationship…otherwise if John was just defending the guy why on earth would he ever talk directly to a mob boss? The mob let him know he was done working for them. He doesn’t appear as innocent as you are making him sound.

      2. The kiss good bye is the kiss of death. The kiss of death signifies impending death and in this case it was used as a terror tactic. John tried to get back in the army but was unsuccesful. He carried two pistols on his person after the kiss. A week before his car exploded in the church of the emacculate conception parking lot a guy that looked like him driving the same year buick as he was shot while driving in broad day light.

        If a guy is going to turn state’s evidence the boss is going to get involved. And if you represent the mafia you’re expected to do what the boss says. If you don’t not only will they kill you but they will send a message to others in doing so. That lesson nearly cost him his life. Till the end of his life he regretted working for the mob.

        1. That’s what defense attorneys do, defend criminals. Sounded like he was going after a plea bargain if his client blew the whistle on the mob.

        2. So he DID WORK FOR THE MOB….WTF…and that is somehow a great family story??…I wouldn’t tell anyone ever, let alone use it as the centerpiece of a campaign….shaking my head.

          This may be one of the worst campaigns ever, that gives me great pause on how he would run the office. it just seems like mistake after mistake; 2nd amendment video, McGowan endorsement and this I worked for the mob story.

          The other 2 are looking better all the time by default.

          1. I believe he defended a mobster. Everybody has a right to an attorney. If the client would blow the whistle he would probably get his sentence reduced.

            1. Many people defend defendants I have no problem with that. May even be appointed by the court….but he chose to work for the mob. Then they portray him as a hero …hey here is some advice don’t work or the mob!

              1. Agreed, there is no way to positively spin that your dad chose to work for the mob. Sorry, very bad character.

  8. Does Fitzgerald win on the first ballot? That seems to be the consensus from those in the know.

    1. bahahahahahahahaa please pass over whatever you are smoking….he is clearly in 3rd place and floundering …he comes across as angry and clearly does not connect with people.

      This race is between Ravnsborg and Russell.

    2. I think your sources are the Fitzgerald runtime spin factory. Oh the ego of the guy!

  9. You are clearly concerned about the Irishmen which tells the story of who you are really afraid of in this race. May Fitz continue the momentum and may the luck of the Irish always shine upon him.

    1. Me too, if Fitzgerald is hanging with crazy Stace and Tara then I don’t want him in charge of anything.

  11. I will comment on all 3 from what i see here.

    Fitzgerald–I don’t like how he is presuming an putting on the card, South Dakota’s next Attorney General….I didn’t like it when Jamison did that with your next mayor…comes across as presumptuous and arrogant to me. I agree that the Vargo thing is a mistake, no one east river will know him and it only makes Lance people mad for a second vote, if there is one.

    Russell–I don’t think these guys have any self awareness at all. Lance picks Stace to speak for him, doesn’t he realize how controversial he is, then you double down by crowing about it. Shakes my head

    Ravnsborg–I like this guy more and more, especially as he continues to defy the odds. He continues to work tirelessly; good recap of the event. I read here and the rest on his pages.

    Any updates on the other races?

    1. Solid observations, 2 cents, & good analysis. It should be an interesting convention. Agree that Jamison’s slogan was a mistake.

  12. Whoever is attacking Fitzgerald’s dad is off course. There is no need to do that. Fitgerald’s dad was a good man, and his son is a good prosecutor for Lawrence County. In reading this race, I think Jason Ravnsborg will be the nominee. Energetic, enthusiastic, he lost the 2014 US Senate primary with grace and style, and he is a proud member of our Armed Forces. He’s a good lawyer, but the AG’s office needs an energetic leader first and an prosecutor second. Marty Jackley has been a superb AG but is for whatever reason, is unable to give his team credit – IE his presentations around the state on the Anna Mae Aquash case do not give credit to the Assistant AG’s who did such an amazing job on this case. Jason knows how to inspire, energize and build a team.

    1. Based on what? Your ignorance? Sorry, you have no credibility if you put out out mindless drivel like this with no basis.

      1. That is what they have done all campaign as no one owns him….I was skeptical at first, but I am fully with Ravnsborg now. Anyone attacked so much so many times with fake news as Troy said once, has to be doing something right…here is the list I came up with!

        Remember he was not experienced as he did not have a law degree–#fakenews
        Remember he was not experienced as he did not practice law #fakenews
        Remember he was not experienced as he had never prosecuted #fake news
        Remember he was not experienced as he had never done civil law #fakenews
        Remember he was not experienced as he had never worked on appeals, #fakenews
        Remember he was not experienced as he had never done any federal cases, #fakenews
        Remember he was not experienced as he could not raise money, #fakenews
        Remember he was not experienced as he had no ideas, #fake news
        Remember he has not experience working with legislators, #fakenews
        Remember he was not experienced as he did not have any support with law enforcement, #fakenews

        I am sure there were a few more I missed of the fake news on here, but hard to keep up with all the lies.

        I think he is the only one experienced in ALL the areas to be AG. In my estimation Fitzgerald gets an A in prosecuting but fails many of the other categories and from everything I have read, talked with others about and observed he is not comfortable around people and comes off so gruff. Plus he and/or his advisors are running a horrible campaign and I do wonder if this is how he runs a small organization what evidence do we have that he can run a large one? I have not seen it.

        Russell is conservative, but totally unelectable in the general because of that ethics opinion against him, he does have more experience than Fitzgerald in a wider area though from States Attorney and civil experience to Legislative experience. If he didn’t have that ethics opinion against him he could make the argument that he was well rounded like Ravnsborg is doing, but when you will have every Democrats yelling about corruption and cleaning Pierre…he will get pounded…plus running for 2 offices at once looks horrible!

        So you can lie about Ravnsborg all you want here…he still has my support. He seems to be the only one not running for state wide states attorney, but Attorney General. He is not going to be trying cases everyday, but being a leader, an administrator, just like the US Attorney, who I found out had zero prosecutorial experience before he got that job. His speech explaining both of those words really made me think about all of the aspects of the job and I would urge you to do the same.

      2. I suggest delegates do their diligence and reach out to their county states attorney and law enforcement officers. If they Express reservations for a candidate or all 3 it should be a red flag worth considering.

        Delegates need to nominate someone who can do the job and get elected.

  14. I agree, talk to your delegates in your home county, talk to your local sheriff, talk to your state’s attorney. See what they say. I have done that in my county, I asked them point blank and they answered directly and I know exactly who they all are supporting. I encourage everyone to do that and then I say we all meet back here on Saturday and post what we learned!

    1. Looks to me that Ravnsborg has quite a few also and law enforcement is with him, not Fitz….

      …..then there is Russell he has Stace Nelson, the only true conservative …so the other 2 should pack it in 🙂

    2. Doesn’t matter…Ravnsborg and Russell have the delegates which matter most…not your normal year of the States Attorneys Association getting to be kingmaker…..which I love! Tired of the “it’s my turn candidates” like Fitzgerald.

    3. Just going through the posts here on DWC, Fitzgerald has released 7 endorsements from state’s attorneys, Ravnsborg has 5 from state’s attorneys, 1 from a state legislator and a majority of the sheriff’s in the state. Plus it’s Monday and it seems Ravnsborg and Fitgerald always seem to roll out press releases all week so this count is not static.

      1. Yeah Monday and Fridays are the worst days for announcements and Tuesday and Wednesday may be dominated by Ten Haken’s victory tomorrow!

        Thank you GivemeaFoot for the count. So it is like Ravnsborg 50-7 Fitzgerald and 1 for Russell (Sen Stace Nelson)

        1. That’s what I came up with, but I never saw anything for Russell, well not a headline of an endorsement, so I didn’t count that

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