Last updated on 2014.07.14
Rep. Phil Jensen is not a happy camper. On May 25th, the District 33 Rapid City Republican lobbed some pretty harsh words at Governor Dennis Daugaard, who has endorsed his challenger, Mike Buckingham, for the District 33 Senate primary:
"What's happened is the governor has declared war on conservative Republicans," Jensen said Thursday. "He wants people in Pierre that will support and represent his agenda, not legislators that will represent the folks in their district."
..."Since when is the governor supposed to be picking winners and losers? And where's the balance of power?" Jensen said. "I believe he will rue the day he made this decision. He's going to face a primary opponent in a couple of years" [Kevin Woster, "Jensen Slams Governor for Taking Sides in District 33 Race," Rapid City Journal, 2012.05.25].
Rep. Jensen is entitled to feel miffed. He carried the Governor's water on House Bill 1234, voting for the increasingly unpopular education reform plan twice. Then this spring he donated $200 to the South Dakota Republican Party. (Radical right-wing blogger Ed Randazzo will also be doubly-torqued: $200 is exactly the amount he donated to the Phil Jensen campaign.)
The state's campaign finance database assigns a reporting date of May 21, 2012, to Jensen's tribute to the SDGOP. Governor Daugaard's endorsement of Buckingham made the news May 24. But Governor Daugaard was gathering polling data to benefit his endorsees weeks before that.
Ouch, Phil. Uncle Bono and I feel for you.
I can't live with or without you... kind of how we liberal bloggers feel about Dennis Daugaard and the South Dakota Republican Party.
Doogard endorsees, progressives going down.
@ArgusMontgomery
Sen. Tim Begalka tells me: "I hope (Daugaard) learned his lesson."