GOP man picked as running mate for Democrat

PIERRE — State Senate Democratic leader Scott Heidepriem, of Sioux Falls, on Tuesday became the first candidate for governor to announce his running mate. He chose a Republican businessman from Sioux Falls to join him on the Democratic ticket.

Heidepriem tapped Ben Arndt, who is little known outside Sioux Falls, as his running mate. The formal nomination remains to be made at the South Dakota Democratic Party’s state convention in Sioux Falls June 24.

Heidepriem, a former Republican, is the only Democrat running for South Dakota governor. Five Republicans are competing for their party’s nomination in the June 8 primary election. None of those five has announced a running mate.

The last Democrat to be elected governor was Dick Kneip, and he was also the last Democratic candidate for governor to win Sioux Falls and the rest of Minnehaha County. Kneip took South Dakota’s most-populous county in all three of his general-election campaigns in 1970, 1972 and 1974.

Heidepriem’s choice of Arndt reflects the nearabsolute necessity of winning Minnehaha and, under South Dakota law, allows for unlimited campaign contributions from Heidepriem’s campaign chairman, Mark Graham of Sioux Falls.

Arndt is married to Graham’s daughter Sara and is chief operating officer for Graham’s paper-products manufacturing company, Bell Inc.

Graham legally donated to Heidepriem’s campaign $21,000 in excess of the standard personal maximum of $4,000 in 2009.

Heidepriem served in the Legislature as a Republican for eight years in the 1980s and early 1990s, and as a Democrat the past four sessions.

He switched parties after hitting roadblocks, as he lost the 1986 Republican primary for the U.S. House of Representatives and was turned down in a private meeting by top Republicans for the 1990 Republican nomination for attorney general.

Heidepriem is running this year as a self-proclaimed “independent” Democrat.

Arndt, a native of Wall Lake, Iowa, has been a marketing executive at Procter and Gamble in Cincinnati and at Microsoft in Redmond, Wash. He holds a bachelor degree from Yale University and a master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern University.

He joined Bell Inc. five years ago. He was named COO at Bell in April.

In a statement, the 36-yearold Arndt said he’s not a politician.

“I know that South Dakota can compete with other states in the region and in the nation and that we need to help keep our best and brightest kids at home living, working and bettering South Dakota — we just need the leadership to make that happen,” he said.

“I know how to balance budgets and I know how to create careers right here in South Dakota,” Arndt said. “Those are my marching orders and they are challenges I eagerly look forward to tackling,”

Jody Severson and Jeff Masten, who are Democratic allies of Heidepriem, set up several political action committees last winter so that Graham could contribute to Heidepriem’s campaign through the PACs in excess of the $4,000 annual limit on a personal contribution to a candidate.

A person can give $10,000 annually to a PAC, with no limits on the number of PACS and $10,000 contributions. In Graham’s case:

• Graham gave $7,000 to the Bipartisan Dakotans PAC run by Masten, who then sent $6,925 to Heidepriem’s campaign;

• Graham gave $7,000 to the Making Government Accountable PAC run by Masten, who, in turn, contributed $6,925 to Heidepriem’s campaign; and

• Graham gave $7,000 to the South Dakota’s New Direction PAC run by Severson, who then donated $6,925 to Heidepriem’s campaign.

Each of the PACs also reported receiving $25 apiece in un-itemized contributions. Graham was the only named donor on the PACs’ year-end 2009 reports.

Masten and Severson each set up one additional PAC during the same period, but reported no donations from Graham and no contributions to Heidepriem’s campaign.

In 2009, Ben Arndt and Sara Arndt each contributed the legal maximum of $4,000 directly to Heidepriem’s campaign.

Mark Graham, Heather Graham and Pat Graham each gave $4,000 directly to the campaign. Benjamin Graham and Molly Graham also each gave $4,000. All are from Sioux Falls.

The only other $4,000 givers in 2009 were former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle; Ann Eichinger of Pierre, who works in the Senate Democrats’ Capitol office during legislative session; the candidate’s sister, Nikki Heidepriem of Bethesda, Md.; lawyer Jim Leach of Rapid City; lawyer Kit McCahren of Pierre; and Scott Scofield of Wentworth.

State Sen. Bob Gray of Pierre, the South Dakota Republican Party’s state chairman, issued a statement Tuesday labeling the financial connections between Arndt, Graham and Heidepriem as “cozy.”

“This is probably the first time that someone who has lived in South Dakota for less than five years has been nominated for lieutenant governor,” Gray said.

Heidepriem’s decision to pick a Sioux Falls businessman underlines the importance of winning the urban hub of neighboring Minnehaha and Lincoln counties.

Republican Gov. Mike Rounds defeated Democratic challenger Jack Billion by about 10,000 votes in Minnehaha and about 5,000 votes in Lincoln in 2006. Rounds beat Democrat Jim Abbott in 2002 by about 7,300 in Minnehaha and about 2,700 in Lincoln.

Likewise, Republican Bill Janklow used a 10,000-vote advantage in Minnehaha and a 1,000 vote edge in Lincoln en route to winning a third term as governor against Democrat Jim Beddow in 1994. Janklow won a fourth term in 1998 as he beat Democrat Bernie Hunhoff by about 19,000 in Minnehaha and about 3,200 in Lincoln.

Gov. George S. Mickelson captured Minnehaha and Lincoln in his 1990 and 1986 elections. Janklow took the two counties in 1982. In his 1978 statewide victory, Janklow lost Lincoln to Democrat Roger McKellips but won Minnehaha.

Kneip’s margins in Minnehaha and Lincoln in 1970 were two pieces in his upset of Republican Gov. Frank Farrar. Kneip won Minnehaha by about 3,000 and Lincoln by about 400 on his way to a statewide win by about 23,000 votes.

Minnehaha and Lincoln counties have grown significantly in population and therefore in political importance in the decades since Kneip’s victory.

The May 2010 voter-registration data show 512,125 active voters statewide. Minnehaha County had the largest total at 103,511, with 43,253 Republicans, 41,144 Democrats and 18,317 independents.

Lincoln County had 26,848 active registrations, the third most in South Dakota behind Minnehaha and No. 2 Pennington’s 62,188. Lincoln reported 13,553 Republicans, 8,345 Democrats and 4,873 independents.

Minnehaha has been the cornerstone of nearly all successful campaigns for Congress in recent decades. The only major election in recent times where the winner lost Minnehaha came in the 2004 battle over a U.S. Senate seat.

Republican challenger John Thune lost to Daschle in Minnehaha 39,674 to 38,105. But Thune beat Daschle in Lincoln 9,671 to 7,468, as Thune won the Senate election statewide 197,848 to 193,340.

Tags: election 2010, scott heidepriem, news, state, fccnetwork