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Dist. 33 Dems Pick Robin Page to Tackle GOP Senator Phil Jensen

One of the biggest reasons to be all grumbly and gloomy at the primary after-party is that Senator Phil Jensen (probably) won the District 33 Republican primary. Jensen, who proposes legislation to protect us from gays and Muslims but says the free market is all we need to protect us from the Ku Klux Klan, beat challenger David Johnson by 30 votes, 50.62% to 49.38%. That any district in South Dakota could give a majority vote to a man who says such absurd and hurtful things and advocates such absurd and hurtful legislation is an embarrassment to our whole state.

But I reject the gloomy grumbles by citing hope from Jensen's own district. District 33's Democrats and Independents had a primary choice for Senator as well. They could elect Democrat Haven Stuck, a Rapid City lawyer with decades of community involvement in the Chamber of Commerce, the Central States Fair, the South Dakota Investment Council, and other reputable activities. Or they could elect Democrat Robin Page, a single mom raising multi-ethnic foster kids in low-income North Rapid.

Robin Page, Democratic candidate for District 33 Senate
Robin Page, Democratic candidate for District 33 Senate

District 33 Dems elected Robin Page. As loyal reader Deb Geelsdottir would say, they elected the passionate poet over the lukewarm moderate. They elected an Indian woman, the best candidate on the ballot to look Phil Jensen in the eye and demand an apology for years of racism and sexism in his politics. They elected an underdog who built on what she learned in her unsuccessful 2012 bid for District 33 House, printed and mailed hundreds of letters from her kitchen table, and outcampaigned a wealthier, better-connected candidate.

District 33 elected exactly the kind of of candidate I want Democrats to elect.

Now my endorsement may be the kiss of death. But I am thrilled that Robin Page won and that she will now carry the important responsibility of holding Senator Phil Jensen accountable and convincing her neighbors to cleanse the Legislature of his bad politics.

And how is Page starting her general election campaign? By talking to her neighbors... all of her neighbors:

Good morning FB friends and family! It is official, in a very close race yesterday, I have won the Democratic Primary, in District 33, with 54% of the vote! I send my best wishes to my opponent, Haven Stuck. I am sure that this race will be talked about in Democratic circles for a long time.

It is my sincere hope that the residents of District 33, Democrat, Republican, Independents and all others, will come together and work for a strong community where hatred, racism and discrimination is not tolerated!

I put forth my honest belief that if we come together in open discussions, we can find the balance and common ground that will best serve all of our citizens.

I look forward to sponsoring several "Meet the Candidate - Listening Sessions" over the next few months. I invite ALL citizens to attend so that we can have these important discussions and together, move our community, state and nation forward!

I do these things "So the People can live"! Thank You!!! [Robin Page, Facebook post, 2014.06.04]

Robin Page for District 33 Senate—go get 'em, tiger!

59 Comments

  1. Kevin Weiland 2014.06.04

    I have known and respected Haven Stuck for over 16 years and was pleased to see him enter the arena and challenge Mr. Jensen. I have only recently met Robin while attending several rallies here in Rapid City and I am equally impressed as you are, CH, with her. She has my support and I can only hope District 33 will get the vote out this November. Mr. Jensen, needs to go.

  2. caheidelberger Post author | 2014.06.04

    Kevin, from your statement and from Mark Remily's endorsement of Haven earlier, it's all the better to know we had two good choices for the job. Robin just struck me as having a little more fire and a little more willingness to take on the powers that be, kind of like the alternative we almost had back in a certain 2010 primary. I'm a sucker for those types.

  3. Steve Sibson 2014.06.04

    "but says the free market is all we need to protect us"

    Jensen's biggest issue with the SDGOP Establishment was his fight for allowing raw milk a free market, which was strongly opposed by big corporate milk processors. Not surprised to see a Chamber of Commerce Crony Capitalist step in. I am also not surprised that a cultural Neo-Marxist would falsely accuse Phil of being a racist and a sexist.

  4. Roger Cornelius 2014.06.04

    Sibon,
    Jensen has proven himself to be sexist and racist, no one had to a accuse him of it. The sad part is that he got votes from so many that share his perverted opinions.

    A big congratulations to my Lakota niece, Robin. So proud of you today and everyday.

  5. Steve Sibson 2014.06.04

    Roger, show me the proof.

  6. Roger Cornelius 2014.06.04

    Steve

    SB128, want more?

    Abortion issues? want more?

  7. Steve Sibson 2014.06.04

    Roger, defending the civil rights of all human beings is not sexist. On average, about half of the abortion victims are female. And since a disproportionate percentage are those of color, pro-abortion advocates are the racists. Christians can't be racist as we believe there is only on race that originates from Adam & Eve.

  8. Jerry 2014.06.04

    What the hell is a pro-abortion advocate? They simply do not exist, What does exist are people that know that a woman has the absolute right to do what she wishes with her body, just like you do Mr. Sibson. If you, Mr. Sibson, wish to put a two by four up your nose, you will do that, you have that right. The voters, including many Christians of this state, made it clear their wishes and told you and yours to go pound sand. Tough luck. Now head on out to the lumber yard and let us know how long the two by four is that you will be working with.

  9. Roger Cornelius 2014.06.04

    Sibson,
    If you want to discuss abortion, go to Cory's June 1 post
    Joe Lowe on abortion: Repeal Mandatory PHC Visit, 72-Hour Waiting Period.
    There are numerous comments and questions awaiting you.

  10. Roger Cornelius 2014.06.04

    Thanks Larry, way good link

  11. Deb Geelsdottir 2014.06.04

    Yayyyyy! Go Robin!

    Thanks for the quote Cory.

  12. Danno 2014.06.04

    I have to pretty much agree with Jerry re: Steves comments.

    Heck, I'm adopted, and personally I would favor that, but I'm of the opinion that it's the womans choice. This total "life begins at conception" absolutely does not hold water with me, at least in the early stages. It needs to be viable on it's own to be a person.

    The voters of the state have resoundingly sent their message, no matter how many times Steve and Al Novstrip try the weasel their way around the voters opinions. When it comes to a referendum, reality again intrudes into their world view. Sad really.

  13. Robin Page 2014.06.05

    THANK YOU CORY!!!! I appreciate your support and confidence!

  14. Steve Sibson 2014.06.05

    "It needs to be viable on it's own to be a person. "

    Danno, ever been to a nursing home?

  15. Danno 2014.06.05

    Bit of a logic leap, Not sure I can make that, but I can see how a Westboro Baptist might think along those lines.

  16. Steve Sibson 2014.06.05

    Danno, ever hear about Obamacare death panels? Do you suppose viability will be a factor? With single payer and medical technology, that decision point will be here soon. And now a question for Christians: is keeping people alive via man-made technology keeping people alive beyond what God intended? A question for New Agers: is Mother Earth already over populated?

  17. larry kurtz 2014.06.05

    Mitchell is certainly overpopulated: ever hear of Daigaard death panels?

  18. larry kurtz 2014.06.05

    Die-gaard death panels are made in Mitchell, right?

  19. Nick Nemec 2014.06.05

    ObamaCare death panels are a figment of the collective conservative mind.

  20. larry kurtz 2014.06.05

    Phil Jensen is a christofascist racist homophobic earth hater: Rapid City deserves him.

  21. mike from iowa 2014.06.05

    There is a nursing home in my hometown that is owned by one person and it is viable and on its own,Steve. What was your point again?

  22. mike from iowa 2014.06.05

    This country already has death panels. They are called gutless,conscience-less wingnut pols who don't want to waste taxpayer dollars on feeding the poor and elderly,or even the military,just so the 1% can have a few more tax breaks. Let 'em starve,let 'em freeze. We worship the koch bros from our knees. Can I get an amen,brothers?

  23. larry kurtz 2014.06.05

    Steve's point is his misanthropy drawn from a miserable childhood and a history of mental illness, mike: engaging him civilly is a fool's errand.

  24. caheidelberger Post author | 2014.06.05

    Steve, you are so wrong. Jensen's views on raw milk did not draw the Johnson challenge. Did anyone talk about raw milk in the primary? Did Johnson say anything to distinguish himself from Jensen?

  25. Nick Nemec 2014.06.05

    Amen Mike. I'll add insurance companies have had "death panels" for years. 28 years ago my wife was a nurse employed by Aetna Insurance, her job was to review claims and find any excuse to reject payment. A one woman, corporate sponsored, death panel.

  26. mike from iowa 2014.06.05

    Larry,I've never been accused of being smart. :)

  27. caheidelberger Post author | 2014.06.05

    Amen, Mike. Robin is better equipped to fight against the real reasons Phil Jensen needs to be kicked out of the Senate. She can speak directly to the pain he causes her, her children, and her neighbors when he spouts his comfortable Christian-Caucasian majoritarianist pretense that government doesn't need to do anything about racism, that businesses should be able to discriminate against the minorities of their loathing, and that his fellow believers are the true victims of persecution in America.

  28. Jenny 2014.06.05

    It's not like big insurance is going away. In European countries, people have the option of opting out of their country's single payer system, or buying additional private insurance for more coverage.

    Romney's system (Obamacare) is working, millions of more Americans have insurance. The focus needs now to be on lowering the cost of healthcare.
    Americans are such a fearful bunch, no wonder they hide behind their 2nd Amendment rights.

  29. Danno 2014.06.05

    Quite an off-topic veer, I think I'll ignore death panels, hog panels, and other types of panels this morning.

    Dave should have gone out and hit the neighborhoods a lot harder, and brought up all the strange things Jensen has done over the past couple years, (and gotten better advice on how to run a campaign I suppose).

  30. Steve Sibson 2014.06.05

    "Steve, you are so wrong. Jensen's views on raw milk did not draw the Johnson challenge."

    Cory, I am bringing into play behind the scenes activities the SDGOP Establishment does not want to become mainstream. The fabricated racist BS is providing cover.

  31. Steve Sibson 2014.06.05

    "The focus needs now to be on lowering the cost of healthcare."

    That is what the death panels will be doing.

  32. Steve Sibson 2014.06.05

    "Christian-Caucasian majoritarianist pretense that government doesn't need to do anything about racism"

    There is only one race according to the Bible, the human race. Government is to provide a free market, not one that makes Bible believing Christians sell wedding cakes with two men on top. Not a government that indoctrinates children of Christians into believing their parents are wrong.

  33. Jenny 2014.06.05

    Feel free to pay the penalty then if you're that scared, Sibby.

  34. Danno 2014.06.05

    Every once in a while, you run across someone and can't help but think 'Did they spend a little too much time playing around in the old west-river uranium mines by chance?'

    Just saying.

  35. Jenny 2014.06.05

    Should married wives be stoned then if they committ adultery (as the bible says), Sibby?

  36. Jenny 2014.06.05

    Do you know some biblical scholars now theorize that Jesus was a homosexual, Sibby? Jesus says NOTHING about the 'evils' of homosexuality in the bible.

  37. Steve Sibson 2014.06.05

    Jenny, perhaps you should read the Bible for yourself instead of going by "biblical scholars" and then, go and sin no more.

  38. Roger Cornelius 2014.06.05

    The Bible says you will go to hell for eating bacon

  39. Jenny 2014.06.05

    Sibby, if you lust (which men do everyday) you are sinning.
    I still want to know your beliefs on married wives being condemned to stoning if they committ adultery.
    A biblical man like yourself can not pick and choose.
    Do you eat bacon regularly?

  40. Steve Sibson 2014.06.05

    Roger and Jenny, sorry that you have been indoctrinated with a false view of the Bible. Unfortunately that is very common.

    There is a specific account for the issue of adultery. It includes what I said before: go and sin no more.

  41. Roger Cornelius 2014.06.05

    Sibby, is that what you have done since you became an indoctrinated Christian, "go and sin no more". And if you consider yourself a sinner, I suppose you're not adhering to your bible.
    Here's my thing about the bible Sibby, I don't need a book big written eons ago to tell me the difference between right and wrong, good from bad, and to define Christianity.

    If anything, the bible should serve as a self-help book, how to make you a better man or woman. It is hardly used for that anymore, it is by people like to judge women and threaten the LGBT community.

    Actually could agree with Jensen's SB128 and your opinions of letting the free market be our guide, with one caveat. It should be an absolutely requirement that KKK bakeries, wedding service providers, and others retailers that want to select their customers, erect huge signs on their doors and stating who they will not serve. You know, NO GAYS, NO BLACKS, NO WOMEN, NO INDIANS.

  42. Douglas Wiken 2014.06.05

    Roger, roughly what are the boundaries of Dist 33? I have looked at several maps, but the boundaries inside Rapid City aren't obvious to me. The city splits council districts to make it hard for residents of North Rapid to win. Is the same thing true of the Legislative District?

  43. Danno 2014.06.05

    Doug,

    It's hard for us residents to figure out too. I've been to the city website, and the maps are.... Just not clear.. to me anyway. I'll keep hunting. I was disappointed to not have that choice (Phil or Dave), where I live, but only a block or two away in any direction from where I lived I saw campaign signs for both.

    Really hard for me to understand is that in many many yards, (more than 50, I counted), I saw signs for both of them side-by-side. *scratches head*, I just don't get that....

  44. Roger Cornelius 2014.06.05

    Doug,

    I have the same problem as Danno does on District 33 boundaries, it often seems like they are wherever the auditor wants them to be on any given election.

    Damn, I wish I lived in District 33.

  45. larry kurtz 2014.06.05

    It just struck me why the Right is resisting Common Core standards: they stress human influence in climate change, genocide of indigenous by colonizers, gender equality and social justice.

  46. Douglas Wiken 2014.06.05

    I guess our houses out there are in District 34. We may put some money into Robin's campaign anyway. She had a good sign on her Facebook page that I "shared" with mine.

  47. Deb Geelsdottir 2014.06.05

    A friend lives on West Blvd. Her neighbors on either side are in a different district. Republican gerrymandering. She would know.

  48. Robin Page 2014.06.06

    FYI - District 33 was gerrymandered to discount the Native and low-income community votes. The district looks like a horse shoe. Beginning at North Street - north to Anamosa, Maple St. on the east and Haines on the West. Then at Anamosa St. it goes north to the Meade Co. Line, west boundary on Anamosa is Horace Mann Elementary, East boundary is Elk Vale Road. Here is where it gets really interesting...Next to the Flying J (east of Elk Vale Road), is a mailbox service for folks who travel the country in their RV's. It is technically in Box Elder. Box Elder is NOT in District 33. There are currently over 5,000 mailbox members - who can vote in District 33 elections. In 2012, there were over 1,400 of them who voted. The overwhelming number of them are Republicans. Those 1,400 votes basically eliminated the Native vote in North Rapid, a clear violation of the federal Voting Rights Act. Then District 33 jumps over to Summerset (southern half), Black Hawk, South Canyon/Nemo Road all the way west to the County line. Then we go up Highway 44 to Johnson Siding and continue on to Highway 385 and out to Silver City. Then it finally jumps down to Sheridan Lake Road, south from Catron to the end of the County. It is obvious why the last elected Legislator from North Rapid was 12 years ago, before the Legislature divided up the residents of North Rapid into three different districts.

  49. Lynn 2014.06.06

    That's bizarre Robin. I've looked at other districts and it's confusing.

  50. Douglas Wiken 2014.06.06

    Robin, Thanks for the info on the district. Please look at Dakota Today and use the E-mail option there to send me your e-mail and post office address.

  51. Luke Warm Water 2014.06.06

    Robin,

    Has the ACLU ever taken up the redistricting of District 33?

  52. Jerry 2014.06.06

    That map is disgusting and is just another example of corruption by the state of South Dakota to rig elections and disenfranchise voters.

  53. lesliengland 2014.06.06

    robin-think twice about trusting wiken. racist, some here believe. maybe he'll learn to khbms. call if u still wanna persue the mailbox issue.

  54. Jerry 2014.06.06

    So those 5,000 folks are not from South Dakota but have a South Dakota address to swing votes. I wonder how many of these mailbox frauds there are in our state. It seems that we locals cannot even vote for whom we want, outside interests trump that and we have lost our voice. How can that be?

  55. lesliengland 2014.06.06

    I think they have to stay over-night once in sd w/ a receipt in their Blue Bird and then sd law calls them a resident, or some such drivel...

  56. Jerry 2014.06.06

    I found that we have a kind of off shore banking industry here as well. I should not say that I found it, it was pointed out. So this is what we have become now, kind of makes you feel proud that this is it, a haven for tax dodgers and voter fraud, under the shadow of the Shrine of Democracy, sad days indeed.

  57. Douglas Wiken 2014.06.06

    Have no fear, Leslie. I sent Robin E-mail informing her that I was viewed by some posters here as a bigot and a racist. It was purely up to her if she wished to communicate further, but in any case, I told her I would send her a political contribution because it appears she is a Democratic candidate willing to work.

  58. Robin Page 2014.06.07

    I have been reading all of your comments for the last few days and I find myself even more committed to getting people together in an open forum for discussion of the issues facing our communities, our state and our nation. However, if we are to find the common ground that can bind us together in a unified voice, we must step back and put aside our own hatred and intolerance of those who have differing views. Over the last couple of years I have had the opportunity to become "facebook friends" with a number of people who have differing views, on some issues, than my own. We have become friends because we have been able to share information and discuss our differing ideas. I value and appreciate those people who are willing to take the risk and have an open dialogue of ideas. It is not about changing each others views, but learning to really listen to each other and then finding those places where we can work together for the common good. When we learn to look beyond our differences and find our shared values, hatred, racism and discrimination will diminish. I welcome any of you to get in touch with me and share your thoughts!

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