GOP candidates converge on Mitchell

Commenting Thursday evening on the field of Republican candidates seeking to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, Public Utilities Commissioner Dusty Johnson said, “Somewhere there’s a meeting of the Democratic National Committee, and they are very nervous.”

Johnson’s quip followed comments from candidates Chris Nelson, Kristi Noem and Blake Curd to about 160 GOP faithful who attended the Davison Hanson County Lincoln Day Dinner at the County Fair Banquet Hall in Mitchell.

Johnson said later that polls show Secretary of State Nelson in a statistical dead heat with Herseth Sandlin, and Noem and Curd closing quickly. The winner of the June GOP primary will take on Herseth Sandlin and independent candidate B. Thomas Marking in the November election.

The event also included speeches by gubernatorial candidates Dennis Daugaard, Gordon Howie, Dave Knudson, and Scott Munsterman. Ken Knuppe, who is also running, was unable to attend and sent his regrets.

A receptive crowd also heard rapid-fire speeches from candidates for the offices of state auditor, treasurer and secretary of state, as well comments from Johnson, of Mitchell, who is running for re-election.

Taking a cue from the 2008 presidential campaign, all three congressional candidates said it’s time for a change — namely, the ouster of Herseth Sandlin.

Nelson said, “The party came together in 2004 to defeat Tom Daschle.” He asked the crowd, “Are you ready for one more retirement?”

He said Herseth Sandlin’s voting record doesn’t match her self-professed label as a fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrat.

“That picture is nothing but an illusion,” he said.

Nelson painted himself as a “representative with a backbone” and promised to work for a balanced budget, to begin shrinking the federal government and to spread the opportunities for economic prosperity.

With 23 years of service to South Dakota in various capacities, he said he is an experienced, trustworthy candidate with a proven record of electability.

Assistant state House Majority Leader Kristi Noem said Democrats are taking the country in the wrong direction.

She also attacked Herseth Sandlin’s claims to conservatism and said the congresswoman voted with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi 95 percent of the time.

Noting her background as a Hamlin County rancher, her business background, her political leadership experience, and her NRA membership, Noem said, “I’m everything Herseth Sandlin says that she is.”

She hammered on her history as a native South Dakotan.

“We need somebody in D.C. who knows what it’s like to run a business, knows what it’s like to balance a budget and make a payroll.”

Sioux Falls physician and state Rep. Blake Curd said his bald pate makes him stand out as a candidate.

“I’m the only candidate whose hair will stay in place in a stiff South Dakota wind,” he joked.

He said that change is possible in Washington only if the state GOP works together.

If they do not, he warned, “We will send someone to Washington who believes politics is a career and not a service.”

He said he has learned “that government is usually not the solution to our problems, and sometimes it’s our biggest impediment.”

Curd said that as a business owner, he has put hundreds to work; as a surgeon, he learned to how to take quick and precise action; and as a veteran of 14 years in the Air Force, he learned to defend America.

Governor candidates

Lieutenant Gov. Dennis Daugaard said that he’s ready to be governor.

“For the last eight years, I have been getting ready,” he said, and he promised that he will “never stop listening, learning and working hard for South Dakota.”

The state must live within its means, he said. Daugaard said that, if elected, he will bring the principles of frugality to Pierre that characterized his early life.

“My values are South Dakota values,” Daugaard said, and he promised a balanced budget and an administration that is pro-business.

He said he balanced the budget as president and treasurer of the Children’s Home Society, and he can do the same for the state budget.

“I believe in small government, protecting the unborn and the right to bear arms,” he said.

State Senate Majority Leader Dave Knudson said his leadership helped to steer the state through a tough budget year at Pierre. The state faced a $40 million budget deficit, and Republican leadership kept to its goal of no new taxes, no shifts in property tax burdens, no spending down of reserves and a zero deficit, he said.

He said South Dakota faces even deeper deficits next year.

“I would like to suggest that the status quo won’t cut it,” he said. “We need problem solvers.”

Chiropractor Scott Munsterman, a former mayor of Brookings, said that South Dakota is sick and tired of politicians, and true leadership is needed.

“Anyone can steer the ship,” he said, “but it takes leadership to chart the course.”

He said the state faces a $100 million structural deficit next year and that two-thirds of the state’s communities are in decline.

“That won’t work,” he said. “We’re only as strong as our smallest community.”

He said he will work toward financial strength statewide. His success as a two-term mayor of Brookings showed that he could lead the state to fiscal solvency, he said.

State Sen. Gordon Howie, the self-professed “tea party candidate,” told the room that the GOP has “drifted to the left,” and people are disenchanted with the party.

In the last year, he said, the current state leadership delivered a food stamp increase of 34 percent and a “declining personal income of over twice the national average.”

Howie said that current leadership has increased government size and spending. If elected, Howie said, he will freeze state spending at this year’s level.

“It’s time,” he said, “that we put state government on a diet.”

Auditor

Auditor candidates Steve Barnett and Pat Miller spoke. Tim Rounds also is running, but was unable to attend.

• Barnett, of Aberdeen, said “I want to be the next watchdog for your tax dollars.” He promised to work toward more computerization and greater office efficiencies.

• Pat Miller trumpeted her 20 years experience in public service in the departments of social services, labor and education and her time as CEO of Easter Seals. “I’ve been involved in two statewide campaigns, and I want to work for you,” she said.

Treasurer

Up for treasurer in the Republican Party are current Deputy State Treasurer Mike Mehlhaff and state Auditor Rich Sattgast.

• Mehlhaff said he has experience and is endorsed by current Treasurer Vern Larson. He promised careful management of funds. “I know that every dollar we spend in Pierre is a taxpayer dollar,” he said.

• Sattgast said that during his successful tenure as auditor, he cut costs by embracing new procedures. He said he is a “proven statewide candidate and office holder.”

Secretary of state

The field for secretary of state at the dinner included Deputy Secretary of State Teresa Bray, state Sen. Jason Gant, and attorney and state Rep. Tom Deadrick.

• Bray said “I’m already there and I’m doing the job,” and promised to follow a program of strict fiscal conservatism and to continue upgrading technology to make the office even more responsive to business.

• Gant said his six years as a state senator prepared him for the job and promised an office dedicated to “openness and transparency.”

He said he has pushed for election reform and will work to open campaign donation records and to speed corporate filings.

• Deadrick said he has a history of public service and as a former House speaker, he developed a proven record of fairness and trustworthiness with both political parties.

Deadrick said he will work to bring corporate registrations to South Dakota in a manner similar to operations in Delaware. In that state, he said, such registrations bring in $600 million annually.

Uncontested races

• Jarrod Johnson, commissioner of schools and public lands, said his office manages 673,000 acres of grazing land and 5.2 million acres of oil and gas rights, school trust funds and state dams. He asked for continued support

• Attorney General Marty Jackley said he has the legal, courtroom and executive experience necessary to continue leading his office.

• Public Utilities Commissioner Dusty Johnson said he fulfilled his earlier campaign promises by working to add 250 more cellular phone towers, add $1 billion in new wind-farm projects and by fighting for consumers.

He testified in Washington, Johnson said, against the increased energy costs that cap-and-trade legislation would force upon consumers.

“I think I’ve done my job,” he said.

Tags: stephanie herseth sandlin, dusty johnson, chris nelson, kristi noem, blake curd, dennis daugaard, gordon howie, dave knudson, scott munsterman, ken knuppe, election 2010, news, state