Archive for the 'Race for Governor' Category
November 22nd, 2006 by Bob Schwartz
Dave Kranz begins the speculation for the upcoming 2008 and 2010 elections in a piece in this mornings Argus Leader.
Much of Kranz’ speculation in the article revolves around the Governor’s chair and includes possible candidates and situations including the idea that Mike Rounds might run against Tim Johnson in 2008. That idea has been floating around for months and had even been publicized during the just completed election cycle.
Rounds has tried to downplay this speculation going as far as saying he has just participated in his last run for public office but many in South Dakota’s GOP are already floating the idea of Dennis Daugaard, the current Lt. Governor, taking over for Rounds and then running as the incumbent in 2010. This scenario has been debated at length but what is really interesting is the names being floated around on the Democratic side.
The obvious name is Scott Heidepriem, whose party switch and meteoric rise to Democratic Senate leader has many thinking his next major task would be a run for governor. The other name which would surprise me is Stephanie Herseth. Kranz plays up the 3 generational card noting that her grandfather was governor and her father came close to winning that job and believes that she would be willing to be the next Herseth to make a run in 2010.
I have no doubt that Herseth would be an excellent candidate for the Democrats but I have a hard time believing she would be willing to give up a so far very successful US House career to take a stab at a state job. Most politicians aspire to move up the political ladder and I would think if Herseth wished to change job titles, US Senator would be more her style.
Bill Janklow went that route and the speculation is that Mike Rounds is looking to make that move as well. Would family history be enough to steer Herseth towards Pierre in the not to distant future? I wouldn’t think so but there must be something to the rumor as her name keeps popping up. Is it a possibility, or is it just wishful thinking on the part of South Dakota Democrats who haven’t seen anyone from the party in the governor’s mansion in quite awhile? I guess time will tell.
November 7th, 2006 by Bob Schwartz
As I mentioned in my post this morning I am planning on doing some limited live blogging this evening once the election results start coming in. I am mainly going to concentrate on several of the ballot initiatives and the state wide seats including the Billion-Rounds race and the Herseth-Whalen contest.
The main ballot initiatives I will be focusing on are of course the abortion ban and Amendment C which seeks to place discrimination into our state constitution plus I am also tracking the ridiculous Amendment E and also the property tax rollback, Amendment D. It should be a very interesting evening and overnight as I am sure some of the final results on some of these initiatives won’t become official until late tonight or tomorrow.
In regards to the governors race, Jack Billion has again won the Moderate from South Dakota very unofficial poll 57-36 percent which is in total opposition to the latest so-called official polls that were recently released. Any guess as to the party affiliation of the majority my 2 or 3 readers?
As I am writing this we are still 30 minutes away from the polls closing here East River and an hour and a half from them closing out west. I am predicting a Rounds win, Herseth win, Referred Law 6 being voted down, Amendment C losing, Amendment E losing and Amendment D passing. What are your thoughts?
October 30th, 2006 by Bob Schwartz
With only 8 days remaining before the election, a Mason-Dixon poll sponsored by the Argus Leader of 800 likely South Dakota voters shows Governor Mike Rounds with a 22 point lead over challenger Jack Billion.
The incumbent Republican would win 57-35 with 8 percent undecided if the results of the Nov. 7 election mirror the outcome of a recent Mason-Dixon Polling and Research survey of 800 likely South Dakota voters.
The Argus Leader sponsored the poll.
The statewide results of the telephone survey, done Tuesday through Thursday, match almost exactly a late-October poll by the same firm in 2002 when Rounds ran against Democrat Jim Abbott. That poll showed Rounds up 55-36. Rounds won that election by about 15 points.
Rounds has big leads in just about every demographic other than with registered Democrats.
The Democrats finally had a viable candidate to challenge the Republican stranglehold in Pierre but for whatever reason his campaign never really got off the ground and now Billion sits 22 points behind with only 8 days remaining. I guess we can stick a fork in it…
October 20th, 2006 by Bob Schwartz
In a pledge that I would almost be willing to bet my own salary that Governor Rounds doesn’t match, Jack Billion has vowed that he would cut his salary to 51st among the other governors in the country until the teachers salaries in South Dakota rise above 51st in the nation.
“Real leadership starts at the top, and I find it unconscionable for the governor of a state with the nation’s lowest teacher pay to be paid 37th or 36th among state governors,” said Billion. “I will cut my pay to dead last among governors until our state’s teachers move up from dead last in teacher pay. And when South Dakota’s teacher salaries rank 48th or 42nd, I will consider adjusting my pay to 48th or 42nd among governors.”
Any takers?
October 8th, 2006 by Bob Schwartz
In a move that will probably surprise no one given the history between South Dakota’s largest newspaper and Governor Mike Rounds, the Argus Leader is officially endorsing Jack Billion for governor.
Their take on Governor Rounds:
Gov. Mike Rounds’ engaging smile and personal warmth hide arrogance and secrecy and a lack of understanding, or lack of willingness to accept, that South Dakotans have an inherent right to open government. There’s simply a basic disregard for public accountability.
And on Jack Billion:
Billion gets it. A physician and veteran. Former state legislator. Dakota Wesleyan University board member. Deep roots. Outspoken. Open. Willing to try new things. Willing to admit he doesn’t have all the answers. Willing to admit when he’s wrong.
They closed their endorsement with a real nice dig on Rounds’ popularity, “Yes, Rounds is incredibly popular in South Dakota. His popularity, though, is based on his smile - not on his leadership or successes.“
They certainly left no doubt on where they stand did they?
October 6th, 2006 by Bob Schwartz
One of the big issues in this years governors race has to do with the employment picture in South Dakota. A story in today’s Argus documents the latest findings released by the federal government that at first glance seems to back up Governor Rounds’ claim of employment prosperity in the state.
Highlights include a drop in the unemployment rate from 3.9 percent to 3 percent while the state added 9,600 new jobs which translates into a growth rate over 1 percent higher than the national average. If the report stopped there, the governor’s claims would have been dead on when he says his policies have help our employment picture.
Unfortunately the report doesn’t end there and here is where the real employment news comes into play. Average salaries were up 2.1 percent, far below the 5.8 percent that was the national average while high wage sectors actually saw lower wages during the last 12 months.
“For South Dakota, the problem isn’t so much unemployment, but the problem continues to be low wages,” said Reynold Nesiba, an economist at Augustana College. “It is surprising to me how little growth there has been in South Dakota.”
The article then wonders if companies are having a hard time finding employees during this current period of low unemployment and the answer they discovered is that even with the low number people in the available job pool, companies outside of the retail sector are not having a difficult time finding people because of the large number of underemployed whom are more than happy to move on to new jobs.
So the next time Governor Rounds starts crowing about the states employment picture, ask him how many of those jobs are actually making a living wage?
As an aside to this story, the author Jonathan Ellis, talked to an HR representative from Premier Bankcard who currently employs over 2800 people in South Dakota. The rep. from the company said they have had no problem filling the 1000 positions yearly that they need, 1000 positions? Does anyone think that the company might have some issues if they need to replace 1/3 of their workforce every year?
October 2nd, 2006 by Bob Schwartz
[poll=8]
This is the final poll for the Governors race. The previous polls here and over at the now defunct South Dakota Politics and Elections site have ended with Jack Billion in the lead. The September very unscientific poll just concluded was no exception and had Jack Billion beating Governor Rounds 62 percent to 32 percent.
September 24th, 2006 by Bob Schwartz
Democratic challenger for governor Jack Billion outlined his plan for heath care in South Dakota during a get together in Yankton (subscription) Friday.
“We want to establish a basic health care policy that can be sold by insurers around the state of South Dakota,” Billion said. “It’s not going to be a fancy policy, but it will have immunizations, preventative care, basic care with co-pays … and, wrapping around on the top of it, you’ll be able to buy catastrophic health care.”
Additional supplements would be available to those who want to pay for them, he said.
Premiums paid by subscribers and employers will fund the program, according to Billion.
He said the nation’s health care system woes are now a national economic problem.
“The cost of health care has gone up so much that businesses have a problem expanding because of it,” Billion said. “They don’t want to hire new workers because of the health care burden.
“That’s what’s going to drive the solution,” he added. “It’s going to be economics.”
Other elements of Billion’s South Dakota health care proposal include:
* creating a multi-state purchasing compact to negotiate drug prices;
* working with insurers to promote wellness programs to prevent health problems;
* offering portability of the health care plan;
* developing incentives to encourage health care providers to locate in South Dakota’s rural communities;
* utilizing technology to streamline health care and eliminate excessive administrative costs;
* providing more funding for mental health care and rehabilitation;
* expanding family coverage plans to allow coverage for unmarried children up to 30 years old;
* allowing patients to seek benefits from stem cell research; and
* offering dental care plans in conjunction with the health care plans.
One thing I have noticed during the campaign thus far is that Dr. Billion has many excellent ideas for what he would like to do if he wins in November but unfortunately another thing I have noticed while traveling the state is that his ideas are not getting out.
We are only 6 weeks or so from the election and going by the billboards and campaign ads (unfortunately I spend many hours on the road and a lot of evenings in hotel rooms watching TV), Billion is still suffering from the same problem he had when he first announced his candidacy, very few South Dakotans know who he is and what he stands for.
Governor Rounds on the other hand is everywhere, billboards in every city and seemingly every other mile marker on the interstates plus campaign ads on all the local stations and cable systems.
Even with mid 60 percent approval ratings, Governor Rounds has never been more vulnerable with his signing of the abortion ban, copping out on the Page execution, charges of impropriety with his secret “hunts” and state plane usage but even with all this ammunition, where is the Democratic Party? Their fingerprints are definitely nowhere to be found in the governors race and unless things change quickly we will be forced to endure 4 more years of the Rounds legacy of closed government, underfunded schools and legislated morality.
We have a candidate that can do great things for our state but we only have a few weeks left to let South Dakotans know he exists…
September 17th, 2006 by Bob Schwartz
It will be a light posting week ahead as I have trips to Pierre, Rapid City and then on to Minneapolis for a day. I hope to post a few items in between trips down I90.
I did want to touch on an interesting item I saw posted on Todd Epp’s blog this morning. It seems that he and the Billion campaign have parted ways.
I have left the Billion for Governor campaign. Details may or may not follow.
As he said details may or may not follow but it does seem to be an interesting development considering we are only 6 weeks or so away from the elections. I was wondering why the almost daily press releases I had been getting from Todd had stopped, I guess I now know why.