Press "Enter" to skip to content

SB 82: Full Senate to Debate Placing All Statewide Candidates on Primary Ballot

South Dakota has two tracks for nominating candidates for statewide office. Folks who want to be governor or go to Congress go through the normal primary process, circulating petitions and subjecting themselves to public vote in the spring to win their party's nomination to be on the November general election ballot. But folks who want to be secretary of state, attorney general, state auditor, state treasurer, commissioner of school and public lands, or public utilities commissioner don't face a primary. They go to their party's convention in the summer and compete for delegate votes.

Senator Stan Adelstein (R-32/Rapid City) wants to erase that second track and make every statewide candidate go through the primary process. Senator Adelstein presented Senate Bill 82 to Senate State Affairs on Friday to make this change. He noted that the convention system served politics better in the 1960s, when he first got involved in politics, when we had no Internet, limited TV, expensive long-distance phone service, no conference calls, and cumbersome document copying technology. The party apparati performed vital services in organizing and informing voters.

But even then, even when the party bosses selected him for party offices, Senator Adelstein testified he didn't like that concentration of power. He spoke of the 1962 convention when he and other young Republicans favored 31-year-old Frank Farrar for Attorney General. The GOP old guard wanted the much older Sterling Clark from Butte County, whom Sen. Adelstein in his Friday testimony called a "bigot" and an "SOB". (Well, you don't hear that in committee every day.) Adelstein and his young Republicans had to work hard to swing delegates away from the party leadership to favor their man Frank.

Now, says Senator Adelstein, the convention selection system for statewide candidates is obsolete. We can get our information from all-pervasive information technology (including robocalls, which Adelstein mentioned in a hilariously parenthetical mutter in front of terrorized State Affairs Vice-Chair Russell Olson). He thus prefers that we allow all party members, not just convention delegates, select all of our statewide candidates.

And Senate State Affairs said o.k. Senator Corey Brown (R-23/Gettysburg) expressed concerns about the added cost of certifying more nominating petitions and placing more names on the primary ballot but said he's "intrigued by the idea" and wants to keep it alive for more discussion. Senator Craig Tieszen (R-34/Rapid City) said he thinks the costs will be "minimal" and that changing times warrant changing the political process. Even robocalled Senators Olson (R-8/Wentworth) and Tim Rave (R-25/Baltic) voted for SB 82. The only nay came from Senator Larry Rhoden (R-29/Union Center), who cited his fondness for tradition and said maybe the parties should turn first to increasing turnout at convention before overhauling the statewide election system.

I'll have some analysis of the changes and commentary coming up today. But expect fast action on SB 82 and a bunch of other bills: Wednesday is "crossover day," when all male senators raid Shantel Krebs's closet and wear high heels to the Capitol all bills must clear their chamber of origin to stay alive.

7 Comments

  1. mike 2013.02.17

    Unfortunately the people will think this is a good idea but those who have been involved in this process will understand why it is not.

    #1 the cost to each candidate - not the cost to the state
    #2 the dangers of having someone without the organization circulating petitions
    #3 why is it the governments job to tell parties what they have to do?
    #4 Even Frank Faraar won the nomination according to Stan.
    #5 Most people who are not wealthy or connected to wealthy people will be able to run.
    #6 if all the normal people don't go to conventions anymore why don't we just let gordon howie and lora hubbel choose who the Lieutenant Governor is?
    #7 this kills both parties political conventions other than for lt. governor and platform. only the crazies who care about a platform will attend.

    Russ Olson and Stan Adelstein are wrong.

  2. JoeBoo 2013.02.17

    How about this, we put everyone on a primary ballot but also use the conventions, primary worth 25%, convention worth the rest. If no one enters the primary its 100% at the convention.

  3. grudznick 2013.02.17

    #7 might be the best reason to vote for this law that I've heard yet.

  4. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.02.17

    Joe: primary + convention? That sounds awfully Rube Goldberg... but then that's kind of how the national conventions work with superdelegates, isn't it?

  5. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.02.17

    Mike, I don't disagree passionately... but I find it hard to resist going down a 7-point flow!

    #1: I agree that the cost issue is about candidates, not state or local election costs. I'd note that (1) the offices in question don't often see multiple contenders from each party. Doyle Karpen and John Zaiko tussled for the Dems' PUC nod in 2010. Gant had two challengers for SOS in 2010. Any other such convention contests leap to mind? Would money have influenced any such races differently from how the public would have voted in a fair fight? And is money absent from the influence wielded among delegates?

    #2: What are the dangers of unorganized people circulating petitions? Stephanie Strong did it, and her failure didn't hurt anyone but herself.

    #3: Why let the parties tell government what to do... or tell me who to vote for in the primary?

    #4: True! The Farrar example does not make his case well. I think Stan had a dozen other historical examples to share... but Chairman Rhoden wasn't going to give the elder statesman that much slack.

    #5: What recent candidates have run without being connected to wealth?

    #6: Lt. Gov. choice: both parties simply default to their Gov nominee's choice, don't they? Has there been any recent tussle over that pick? Would the guy holding the reins as gov-nom stand for it?

    #7: has the primary process killed the national convention process? If so, is that a bad thing?

  6. mike 2013.02.18

    In 2010: I remember Mike Melhoff and Rick Sattgast for Treasurer and Mark Barnett, Tim Rounds and Pat Miller for Auditor. If memory serves me right Sattgast had a primary for Auditor back in 2002 also.

    I don't think Jarrod Johnson or Dusty faced primaries because they both faced off against a Dem incumbent in their first races of '04 and '06. Marty Jackley, chris nelson and Kristie Fiegen must have been given free passes because they were appointed or really strong.

  7. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.02.18

    The passes for Jackley, Nelson, and Fiegen: wouldn't they be just as likely under a primary system, where the party would put out the word not to challenge the Gov's picks?

    The 2010 challengers you mention: aren't they all well-connected party animals?

Comments are closed.