Democrat leader says party can compete and win

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The South Dakota Democratic Party is down but it isn’t out, according to Ben Nesselhuf, who was chosen Saturday to lead the state party.

Democratic candidates were pounded on Nov. 2, as Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin was defeated, all statewide candidates lost in landslides and most legislative candidates were beaten. The party couldn’t even field a candidate to run against Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.

The losses were stinging, Nesselhuf said, but they also seemed to awaken something in Democrats across South Dakota.

“I think it’s a wake-up call we need to reach out to people not inclined to vote Democrat and get them to the polls for us,” he said. “I think it was a wake-up call that we need to reengage and reconnect with the electorate.

Nesselhuf, 35, was elected the party’s chairman at a meeting of the South Dakota Democratic Central Committee at the Cedar Shore Resort in Oacoma Saturday. He soundly defeated state Rep. Mitch Fargen of Flandreau.

Nesselhuf will also serve as the party’s executive director. He said combining the two offices was part of his platform when he sought the office.

“My job is to run the day-to-day events of the office, recruit candidates, raise money,” Nesselhuf said. His salary has yet to be determined.

Former Brown County commissioner Deb Knect, of Houghton, was elected vice chairman, a post she has held before. Julie Bartling, of Burke, who served as Gregory County’s auditor and as a state senator before losing in a bid for state auditor this year, was elected secretary. Bill Nibbelink, of Flandreau, was re-elected as treasurer.

Current Democratic Party Chairman Cheryl Chapman, of Rapid City, did not seek another term. Erin McCarrick, who has been the party’s executive director, may stay on after her job ends on Dec. 31.

“She won’t be in her current position but that’s not to say there won’t be another position,” Nesselhuf said. “Erin’s a friend. She’s the first person I told what my platform would be.”

Nesselhuf said the meeting of the Central Committee shows how ready party members are to become more competitive. More than 100 people attended the meeting, he said.

Party officials want to make it clear that Democrats can win in South Dakota, he said. There are only 35,000 fewer Democrats than Republicans in the state, he noted, and independent voters seem to hold the power to determine who will win a race.

“We are a competitive state,” Nesselhuf said. “That’s why we can compete in congressional races. Legislative district have been Gerrymandered to make it very difficult for us to pick up seats.

“The reality is that 46 percent of the population are registered Republicans and 38 percent are registered Democrats,” he said. “We are a competitive state.”

Democrats such as George McGovern, Tom Daschle and Tim Johnson have had a great deal of success in South Dakota, all serving more than 20 years in Congress. Johnson may run for a fourth term in the Senate in 2014 but he has repeatedly said he doesn’t want to get very involved in the state party.

Nesselhuf said he accepts that.

Johnson, he said, is not a partisan figure who cares to get involved in politics any more than he has to and simply wants to be the best senator he can be, he said. Nesselhuf said he admires Johnson’s stance while also realizing he is an effective symbol for the party.

“Just by the fact that he’s a Democrat elected official he’s involved whether he wants to or not,” he said.

The defeat of Herseth Sandlin, the granddaughter of a governor and secretary of state and daughter of a longtime legislator, was a blow to the state party, Nesselhuf admits. He hopes she chooses to run for office again but said he doesn’t plan to offer her any political advice.

“That’s not a decision for me to make. Stephanie is going to have to make that decision,” he said. “As a candidate, we would be absolutely foolish not to do everything we can to re-engage her.”

Nesselhuf said it’s clear Herseth Sandlin wants to spend time with her husband and their son Zachary now and it would be “completely foolish” to write her her off yet.

“She is a rock star, regardless of getting caught up in losing in a close race this year,” he said. “In addition to being a rock-solid congresswoman. I can’t say enough good things about her.”

While McCarrick had campaigned for Herseth Sandlin in the past, she wasn’t a rubber stamp for the congresswoman while running the state party, Nesselhuf said.

“I don’t believe them any way, shape or form,” he said. “That’s just the gossip.”

And he said charges that Herseth Sandlin was not concerned with party building are untrue as well.

While he was recruiting candidates in 2008, he stopped by a house to talk to a potential candidate. Herseth Sandlin was sitting on a couch, making a pitch for the candidate. More than 100 candidates ran for the Legislature that year, Nesselhuf said.

“And Stephanie was very involved in recruiting, making calls,” he said.

Nesselhuf, who served 10 years in the Legislature, winning two terms in House and three in the Senate representing District 17, said he’s not planning a run for office right now himself. He set a party record by raising $210,000 in his race for secretary of state.

“You never close the door,” Nesselhuf said. “But if I do a good enough job as chair I take myself out of contention for an office in the future.”

He said he did enjoy the race and wants to share the pleasure of politics with candidates he recruits.

“I had a fantastic experience running for a statewide office,” Nesselhuf said. “I had so much fun.”

He also favors a return to an early primary in South Dakota. The deadlocked 2008 Democratic battle for the party’s presidential nomination brought Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to the state and garnered a great deal of media attention.

But in an era when nominations are usually locked up early, that’s unusual, he said. South Dakota should hold its primary in the opening weeks of the race, Nesselhuf believes.

“Competitive states get attention and if you get attention from the candidates you’ll get attention from the future president,” he said. “We’re irrelevant in the conversation and we get treated that way.”

Tags: election 2010, news, state, politics