MyDD :: It's not rocket science...

It's not rocket science...

by DLCC, Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:18:37 PM EST

Bumped from the diaries -- jonathan

Republican Tom Dempster is the Assistant Majority Leader seeking his fourth term in the South Dakota state Senate.

Obviously Dempster has some cursory knowledge of the filing process in the state, given he's been through the process three times. Or so you'd think...

To get on the ballot in South Dakota candidates need signatures from only fifty registered voters in the district. It seems Senator Dempster filed either incorrect paperwork or too few signatures. Either way, come November he won't be on the ballot as a Republican according to South Dakota's Secretary of State.

It gets better.

According to South Dakota law, Senator Dempster can qualify at a later date to appear on the ballot as an Independent - assuming he can figure out the paperwork this time.

Though this apparent incompetence gave us a chuckle, it is no laughing matter for Republicans desperate to hold on to their tenuous 20-15 Senate majority. After losing five seats in the 2006 elections, they now face the real possibility of losing the chamber to Democrats - who are raising historic amounts of money and have recruited their strongest class of candidates to date.

Read more about the enormous stakes in South Dakota here.

While not every state is lucky enough to have Republicans like Dempster who forget how to file, Democrats are making bold moves across the nation to continue expanding upon the legislative majorities we already have.

Learn about the DLCC

Support the DLCC

Crossposted

Tags: DLCC, state legislatures, redistricting (all tags)

Permalink :: 9 Comments :: Post a Comment

Recced (2.00 / 2)

this should be Recced.

Student Guy=JoeMentum. No really Student Guy=JoeMentum, after all JoeMentum was an embarrassment so is Student Guy. This sig is FAIL!!

by Student Guy on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 05:32:21 PM EST

Done (2.00 / 1)

Oh, you mean the actual diary? Yeah, I recced that too. :-)

2006 was one of the best years we South Dakota Dems have had in a long, long time. We went from 25-10 to 20-15 in the State Senate. Sounds like we're set for another great year this year. I'd better pull myself away from the Democratic National Pie Fight at least enough to make it down to more county Dem meetings, and see what we can do.

Prog

by Progressive Witness on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 06:08:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Definately (none / 0)

Mojo to a fellow prairie person.

My section of the prairie (about 20 Mi west of Wilmar, MN is blue from the state rep, state sen, con rep, only thing ruining it is T-Paw who will be gone in 2010 (darn 3rd party spoilers we have here in MN).

Student Guy=JoeMentum. No really Student Guy=JoeMentum, after all JoeMentum was an embarrassment so is Student Guy. This sig is FAIL!!

by Student Guy on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:30:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: It's not rocket science... (2.00 / 1)

This is the kind of stuff that used to happen to Democrats. Its like Fred Thompson not filing to paperwork to be in the Delaware GOP Primary.

In a role reversal, the GOP is now the Keystone cops.

by johnnyappleseed on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:23:47 PM EST

Re: It's not rocket science... (2.00 / 1)

we are so getting the sd state senate this year. Go Ben nesslehoff!

mccain/Jindal 08: uniting the Depends generation with the Pampers generation.

by Doug Tuttle on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:38:51 PM EST

Re: It's not rocket science... (2.00 / 2)

Gotta love it when the law actually applies to the R's.

by redwagon on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:47:58 PM EST

Re: It's not rocket science... (2.00 / 1)

Every district...Every State..
This is the difference between Howard D and Terry Mac.

"If you want to end war and stuff, you gotta sing loud"...Arlo Guthrie

by nogo war on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 08:52:00 PM EST

Re: It's not rocket science... (none / 0)

So true. It's not that stuff like this never happened before. It's that, when it did, we had no one there to exploit the opportunity.

Once we really have the 50-State Strategy locked down and a part of Democrat DNA (we're not quite there, yet, seeing as we gave Dick Lugar a bye in Indiana last year), we need a Version 2.0.

The number 80,000 sticks in my head as the sum total of all partisan elective seats in the U.S., down to counties and townships and the like. Whaddaya say we adopt the 80,000-Seat Strategy next?

by gas28man on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 10:27:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]

WV-03 (2.00 / 1)

In WV-03, Rep. Rahall's Republican opponent submitted his paperwork in the mail. He correctly had the forms notorized, a step that trips up some folks who file by mail. The step he somehow missed was signing the form! (Makes you wonder what the notory notorized... eh?)

Alas, as he was the only Republican interested in taking on the futile gesture of running against the well-seated incumbent Rahall, he was still able to get on the ballot.

W.Va. state law says if no candidates files in a major party primary, the party can name a candidate during the few weeks after the filing period ends.

by WVaBlue on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 09:15:17 PM EST

You are not logged in.

In order to post a comment, you must be logged in. If you have a member account, please log in to comment.

If not, you can make an account right here. It's quick and free.