2 Broadcaster Press April 12, 2016 www.broadcasteronline.com Wild Rides Loom In Legislative Primaries, Especially Over Republican Nominations BY BOB MERCER State Capitol Bureau PIERRE – Twenty of South Dakota’s 35 legislative districts will have contests in the June 7 political primary elections, including six districts with two sets of primaries each. Republicans have 12 primaries for their party’s House of Representatives candidates and 10 primaries for their party’s Senate candidates. Five of those districts have Republican primaries for House and Senate candidates. Democrats by contrast have four districts with primaries, three for House candidates and one for Senate. The primaries pick the nominees from each party for the November general election ballot. Each district can have two House candidates and one Senate candidate from the same political party on the November ballot. Neither of the two major political parties filed full slates for all 105 seats up for election. The filing deadline for the primaries was March 29 with paperwork accepted in the days afterward if sent by registered mail before the 5 p.m. deadline. Independent candidates can file nominating petitions through April 26 to compete in the November election. Two independents have filed so far. Republicans currently hold supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature. The Senate count is 27 Republicans and eight Democrats. The House mix is 58 Republicans and 12 Democrats. Term limits contributed to some of the primary fever. Just as volatile were votes on raising the state sales tax to pay for teacher salaries and property tax relief; creating a new school aid formula; and banning transgender students from opposite-sex bathrooms in public schools. The tax and school aid measures, proposed by Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard, passed over the objections of a minority of Republicans. Legislators approved the transgender bathroom restriction but the governor vetoed it, and there wasn’t two-thirds majority support in the Senate to override him. On the other extreme, more than one-fifth of the legislative seats appear to be uncontested, unless independents file in those districts. The so-far unopposed for seats in the 35-member Senate include six Republicans and five Democrats: District 1 — Democratic incumbent Jason Frerichs of Wilmot; District 2 — Republican incumbent Brock Greenfield of Clark; District 14 — Republican incumbent Deb Soholt of Sioux Falls; District 18 — Democratic candidate Craig Kennedy of Yankton, running to succeed Democratic incumbent Bernie Hunhoff of Yankton; District 21 — Democratic incumbent Billie Sutton of Burke; District 23 — Republican Rep. Justin Cronin of Gettysburg, who’s termlimited in the House and is running to succeed term-limited Republican Sen. Corey Brown of Gettysburg; District 24 — Republican incumbent Jeff Monroe of Pierre; District 26 — Democratic incumbent Troy Heinert of Mission; District 27 — Democratic Rep. Kevin Killer of Pine Ridge, who’s term-limited in the House and is running to succeed term-limited Democratic Sen. Jim Bradford of Pine Ridge, who’s running for the House; District 29 — Republican incumbent Gary Cammack of Union Center; and District 31 — Republican incumbent Bob Ewing of Spearfish. At this point there appear to be 11 candidates for the 70-member House of Representatives who are unopposed. Four current senators are serving their fourth and final consecutive terms. Senate Republican leader Corey Brown of Gettysburg and Republican Mike Vehle of Mitchell are retiring. The two other term-limited senators, Republican Craig Tieszen of Rapid City and Democrat Bradford, are running for the House. Fourteen House members are termlimited. Seven are retiring. They are House Republican leader Brian Gosch of Rapid City, House Speaker Dean Wink, R-Howes, Republicans Fred Romkema of Spearfish and Mike Verchio of Hill City, and Democrats Dennis Feickert of Aberdeen, Peggy Gibson of Huron and Dean Schrempp of Lantry. Seven other term-limited House members are seeking Senate seats. The five Republicans are Jim Bolin of Canton, Justin Cronin of Gettysburg, Lance Russell of Hot Springs, Jacqueline Sly of Rapid City and Roger Solum of Watertown. The two Democrats are Killer and Patrick Kirschman, D-Sioux Falls. Russell, Sly, Solum and Kirschman have primaries. Russell is challenging Sen. Bruce Rampelberg, R-Rapid City. Sly is challenging Sen. Phil Jensen, R-Rapid City. Solum is in a primary with Neal Tapio of Watertown. Kirschman is in a primary with Reynold Nesiba of Sioux Falls. Thirteen current legislators who aren’t term-limited aren’t seeking reelection. They are: House Republicans Michele Harrison of Mobridge, Lee Schoenbeck of Watertown, Scott Craig of Rapid City and Scott Munsterman of Brookings; House Democrat Paula Hawks of Hartford; Senate Republicans Scott Fiegen of Dell Rapids, Ried Holien of Watertown, Betty Olson of Prairie City, David Omdahl of Sioux Falls, Phyllis Heineman of Sioux Falls and Bill Van Gerpen of Tyndall; and Senate Democrats Angie Buhl O’Donnell of Sioux Falls and Bernie Hunhoff of Yankton. The candidates for House who don’t have primaries and don’t have any other opponents so far include: Democrats Susan Wismer of Britton, Steve McCleerey of Sisseton, Shawn Bordeaux of Mission and Oren Lesmeister of Parade; and Republicans Tona Rozum of Mitchell, Lance Carson of Mitchell, Mary Duvall of Pierre, Tim Rounds of Pierre, Jim Schaefer of Kennebec, Thomas Brunner of Nisland and Larry Rhoden of Union Center. Among primaries for Republicans are: House District 3: Incumbent Daniel Kaiser of Aberdeen, Drew Dennert of Aberdeen and Todd Kolden of Aberdeen; Senate District 5: Rep. Roger Solum of Watertown and Neal Tapio of Watertown; Senate District 7: Incumbent Larry Tidemann of Brookings and Doug Post of Volga; Senate District 9: Incumbent Deb Peters of Hartford and former Rep. Lora Hubbel of Sioux Falls; House District 11: Incumbent Mark Willadsen of Sioux Falls, Chris Karr of Sioux Falls and Dave Landry of Sioux Falls; House District 14: Incumbent Tom Holmes of Sioux Falls, incumbent Larry Zikmund of Sioux Falls and Dave Zimbeck of Sioux Falls; House District 16: Incumbent David Anderson of Hudson, Kevin Jensen of Canton and Sen. Bill Shorma of Dakota Dunes; Legislative Primaries | Page 3 CSI Competition Coming To USD Agents with the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation will teach the basics of crime scene investigation and then give University of South Dakota students the chance to test those skills in a competition. Students and members of the public are invited to the training from 9-12 a.m., Saturday, April 9, at the Beacom School of Business on the USD campus. Students and community members will learn the basics of crime scene investigation followed by a session called tools of the trade. Agents will demonstrate various techniques, including fingerprint identification, making casts and using black lights to show evidence that otherwise wouldn’t be visible. This training will take place in the Beacom School of Business, room 133. The afternoon includes two events: the competition and a polygraph demonstration. In the competition, which will be held at Farber House and Dakota Hall, seven teams of five students will analyze and process “crime scenes” created by South Dakota DCI agents. Also during that time, eight students will have the opportunity to undergo a polygraph examination about the mock crime scenes. “USD Criminal Justice Studies is committed to providing high impact learning experiences for our majors,” said Sandy McKeown, director of USD’s Criminal Justice Program. “These opportunities enhance students’ liberal arts education while bringing them into contact with professionals in the field. We are very proud to partner with South Dakota DCI to bring this hands-on learning opportunity to our campus. Experiences like this are what make USD the place to prepare for a career in criminal justice.” Greening Vermillion Receives $300 Grant The Clay-Union foundation, Inc. offered a $300 community fund garden and plants grant this spring. One award was available per county, and the application was sent to each city to share with local organizations. Susan Port, with Greening Vermillion, applied for the grant, which ties in with their ongoing effort to spruce up the downtown Vermillion and Cherry Street. The project includes new wood planters, perennial plants and plantings along Cherry Street. Susan Port is pictured above receiving the $300 check from John P. Gille, Program Director for the Clay-Union foundation, Inc. John has served as the director since he established the foundation in 1997, when it was incorporated as a non-profit agency. Donations to help support future community fund efforts may be made payable to the Clay-Union foundation, Inc., with comm. fund donation written on the memo line. Then mail it to P.O. Box 665, Elk Point, SD 57025. The foundation is also seeking 2-3 new board members to serve on the board. Meetings currently alternate between Elk Point and Vermillion. USD students are encouraged to apply, as leadership positions are available. To learn more about the community foundation, and apply as a board member, please call John Gille at 605-421-5050. The next meeting will be in mid-August, so there is time to add board members from each county prior to the meeting. BroadcasterOnline.com “Get Connected!” We are offering full blood, percentage and commercial Boers that can be used for show or breeding. For more information or to view contact BOERS Sealand Marine & Trailer ING SPR BOAT & TRAILER All IN STOCK BOATS AND TRAILERS ARE AT SALE PRICES THURSDAY, APRIL 14TH SATURDAY, APRIL 16TH 9:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M. 9:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. FRIDAY, APRIL 15TH SUNDAY, APRIL 17TH 9:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M. 12:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M. SALE AT ALL 3 LOCATIONS DAILY S DRAWING NORFOLK, NE • 84617 NORTH HWY 81 OMAHA, NE • 10702 SOUTH 144 YANKTON, SD • 3706 WEST 7 STREET 25% UP TO OFF ACCESSORIE S TUBES, WAKE BOAR ANCHORS, ETDS, SKIS, C. 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