MERCER: Term limits aren't really term limits in our state

• Bob Mercer

Bob Mercer

Talk about it

There are pluses and minuses to the term limits that South Dakota voters placed on the Legislature through the 1992 constitutional amendment. We’re seeing again this election year that term limits don’t necessarily force a legislator to leave the Legislature, especially not forever.

Only 10 of the 105 current lawmakers are at the end this year of their allowed four consecutive two-year terms in the same chamber.

The three senators are Democrat Jim Hundstad, of Bath, and Republicans Bob Gray, of Pierre, and Tom Hansen, of Huron. All three are retiring from the Legislature rather than taking the option of running for the House instead.

Four of the seven House members who are term-limited are retiring too. They are Republicans Jamie Boomgarden, of Chancellor, Thomas Brunner, of Nisland, Roger Hunt, of Brandon, and Chuck Turbiville, of Deadwood.

The three other term-limited House members are running for the Senate.

House Speaker Val Rausch, R-Big Stone City, is challenging Republican Sen. Tim Begalka, of Clear Lake, in District 4. Democratic Rep. Steve Street, formerly of Revillo and now with a Milbank address, is waiting to take on the winner there.

A change of address took place too for another term-limited Democrat recently. Redistricting placed Rep. Paul Dennert, of Columbia, into the redrawn District 1 with Senate Democratic leader Jason Frerichs, of Wilmot.

Rather than retire, Dennert bought a home in Aberdeen that is located in District 3, allowing him to challenge Republican Sen. Al Novstrup of Aberdeen.

Legislators cannot get around term limits by moving to a different district.

Then there’s Sen. Jim Putnam, R-Armour, and Rep. Frank Kloucek, D-Scotland. They’re trying to switch places again.

Putnam was appointed to a vacancy in the state House in 1987 after the death of Rep. Gary Bender. Putnam has been in the Legislature ever since.

He won election to the House in 1988 and then won five more terms in a row for the House. In 2000 he ran for the Senate and won. After one term in the Senate, he ran for the House in 2002 and won. He then won three more terms in a row for the House.

In 2010, he ran for the Senate again and won. Now, after one term in the Senate, he’s running for the House again.

Kloucek’s career has followed the same pattern. He won his first term in the House in 1990. In 1992 he ran for the Senate and won. He won three more terms in a row for the Senate, then ran for the House in 2000 — just as Rep. Putnam was running for the Senate in 2000.

Sometimes politics is just a lot of coincidences, right?

Kloucek won a term in the House in 2000, then ran for the Senate in 2002, just as Sen. Putnam was running for the House in 2002. Kloucek won a term for the Senate in 2002, then won three more terms in a row for the Senate.

Term-limited in the Senate in 2010, Kloucek ran for the House, just as the term-limited Rep. Putnam was running for Senate.

Now they’re making their switches again this year, as Kloucek tries to get back into the Senate and Putnam tries to return to the House.

The hold that the Legislature gets on some people is remarkable. Dennert now has 20 years, Kloucek 22 and Putnam 26. They are the Legislature’s longest-serving current members.

There are only 11 other legislators in the history of South Dakota who have served at least 26 years. The record is 30 years.

That title is jointly held by the late C.S. Amsden, of Milbank, Jim Dunn, of Lead, who retired after the 2000 session, the late Alfred Roesler, of Deadwood, and the late Gordon Pederson, of Wall, who lost a 2008 primary and died last August.

There are 18 former legislators attempting to return this election year. The longestserving among them is Republican Dave Munson.

Munson served 24 consecutive years in the Legislature, then resigned from the Senate in the spring of 2002 after winning election as mayor of Sioux Falls.

He served two terms as mayor. He turns 70 on April 16 and has filed as a candidate again for the House.

He’s far from the oldest former legislator trying for a come-back. That distinction belongs to Democrat Dorothy Kellogg, of Watertown, who is 91. She has 10 years of legislative experience and last served in 1992 in the Senate.

She’s the only Democratic candidate seeking the two House seats available in District 5, where Republicans incumbents Melissa Magstadt, of Watertown, and Roger Solum, of Watertown, are running for re-election.

Other former legislators who are candidates again this election year include:

Democrats Pam Merchant, of Brookings, Jim Holbeck, of Harrisburg, Quinten Burg, of Wessington Springs, Dan Ahlers, of Dell Rapids, Jim Peterson, of Revillo, Mark Anderson, of Sioux Falls, Darrell Solberg, of Sioux Falls, Julie Bartling, of Burke, Dale Hargens, of Huron and formerly of Miller, Doug Kazmerzak, of Erwin, and Oran Sorenson, of Garretson;

And Republicans Bill Van Gerpen, of Tyndall, Jeff Monroe, of Pierre, Mike Buckingham, of Rapid City, Tim Rounds, of Pierre, and John Teupel, of Spearfish.

There’s also one former state circuit judge vying for the Legislature.

Republican Timothy Johns, of Lead, is a candidate for the House.

Current legislators who weren’t term-limited but didn’t file as candidates include:

House members Elaine Elliott, D-Aberdeen; Ed Iron Cloud III, D-Porcupine; Brian Liss, R-Sioux Falls; Nick Moser, R-Yankton; David Sigdestad, D-Pierpont; and Kim Vanneman, R-Ideal; and

Senators Joni Cutler, RSioux Falls; Jeff Haverly, RRapid City; Elizabeth Kraus, R-Rapid City; and Eldon Nygaard, R-Vermillion.

All of which seems to lead to the conclusion that, despite the state constitution, the only real term limits in South Dakota are those that legislators impose on themselves, or that voters impose on the candidates through the election ballot.

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