Arndt: Partisan politics not major concern

Ben Arndt may be a Republican running on the Democratic ticket, but he said politics has little to do with his campaign for lieutenant governor.

“I’m not familiar with partisan politics and I really won’t be,” Arndt said Tuesday during a 40-minute meeting with The Daily Republic editorial board.

“I really don’t believe it’s that important,” he said. “That’s not what the race is about.”

Arndt, 36, and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Scott Heidepriem toured the state the day after Arndt was announced as the Democratic lieutenant governor candidate. They met with newspaper editors and lunched with Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D.

Heidepriem, 53, said he spoke with Johnson, Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., and former Democratic senators George McGovern and Tom Daschle before announcing his choice. All were very supportive of the ticket, he said, and the general reaction has been very positive.

Heidepriem made his own party switch several years ago. After serving eight years in the Legislature as a Republican representing Hand County from 1983-92, he changed his party affiliation after he left office.

In 2006, he was elected to the state Senate as a Democrat representing Minnehaha County.

“I just felt more comfortable on that side of the ledger than where I’d been for years,” he said.

Mitchell City Councilman Mel Olson, who sat in on the editorial board meeting at the campaign’s request, said Arndt struck him as an “Eisenhower Republican” from the once powerful moderate wing of the party. Olson, who served in both the state House and the Senate as a Democrat, said he was once a Republican as well.

“I was driven out of the party before you were,” he said to Heidepriem, who said the GOP has become hostile to anyone who doesn’t share the deeply conservative ideology of the party.

Heidepriem said both he and Arndt are “social moderates” and “fiscal conservatives.” The bipartisan ticket will receive Republican support this fall, Heidepriem predicted.

He said he doubts other Democrats will challenge Arndt’s nomination at the state party convention June 25 in Sioux Falls. Heidepriem said if someone makes an issue of Arndt’s registration, “we’ll deal with that at the time.”

Heidepriem said that while he is a former Republican who has cast himself as an “independent Democrat,” and his running mate will remain a registered Republican during the campaign, they are representing the Democratic Party.

“This is the Democratic ticket,” Heidepriem said. “There’s no doubt about that.”

Although their party registration differs, the two men agree on most issues, they said. They will focus on fixing the state’s debt-ridden budget while trying to find money for education. They also agree on the need to develop ethanol and wind power in the state, Arndt said.

“There’s a lot more we’re consistent on than we’re different,” he said.

“What he’s got to stand for,” Heidepriem added, “is the agenda of this ticket.”

Arndt is the son-in-law of Mark Graham, of Sioux Falls, who is Heidepriem’s campaign chairman. When Heidepriem started looking for a running mate, he discussed potential candidates with Graham, who has donated at least $25,000 to the campaign. His family also has donated to Heidepriem’s campaign.

Money wasn’t a factor in his choice, Heidepriem said. Instead, he was impressed by Arndt, a Yale graduate who worked for Procter & Gamble and Microsoft before moving to South Dakota five years ago. Heidepriem said he attended Arndt’s wedding to Sara Graham 11 years ago and is close to the family.

“I’ve watched Ben and Sara develop for many, many years,” he said. “This guy knows business inside and out.”

While Mark Graham was reluctant to consider his sonin-law for the post, Arndt was willing to consider the offer, Heidepriem said, and was the first and only choice for the lieutenant governor’s slot.

“I asked one person – him,” Heidepriem said.

He said if they are elected, Arndt will continue to serve as chief operating officer of Bell Inc., a Sioux Falls-based paper-products manufacturing company. The firm employs 200 people and has seen its profits rise in recent months despite the national economic downturn.

Heidepriem said Arndt would preside over the state Senate while serving as an advocate for economic development in the state. His task would be to change the South Dakota economy to produce more high-quality products and raise wages in the state.

“We’re exactly in sync with what needs to be done,” Arndt said.

Heidepriem added, “We’re going to work side-by-side with the things that Ben brings to the table.”

If they are elected, there is of course a chance Arndt could assume the governor’s job. Lt. Gov Harvey Wollman became governor in 1978 when Gov. Dick Kneip resigned to become ambassador to Singapore. In 1993, Gov. George S. Mickelson was killed in a place crash and Lt. Gov. Walter Dale Miller served the final 20 months of Mickelson’s term.

Arndt said while he may be a newcomer to politics, he feels he will grow during the campaign and could serve as governor.

“I think I’m capable of that role,” he said.

Although no Democrat has been elected governor since Kneip won a third term in 1974 and some races since then have been lopsided wins for the GOP, Heidepriem rejected a comparison of his selecting a Republican running mate to a Hail Mary pass.

“I have a calm confidence about this race,” he said. “We’re doing just fine. We’re right where we want to be.”

Tags: election 2010, scott heidepriem, ben arndt, news, state