South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

2016

Elections Kristi Noem Mayor High Crimes Mayor Hubris Mayor Subprime Mike Huether Mike Huether Sioux Falls

UPDATE: Will Huether run for US Congress? Will Dusty Johnson challenge him?

l3wis 12Comments

After Noemless announced just minutes ago that she will run for governor, does this mean Mayor Huether will decide to run for congress? Not sure, but let’s setup the scenario. Though the 2018 race for governor won’t have an incumbent challenger, the Dems have had zero luck for almost 40 years taking that seat. Take also into account that Kristi is very, very, very popular. I am even guessing that Jackley will back out so Noem doesn’t have a Republican challenger in the primary, or some crazy weak teabagger. I also speculated days ago she would be running after Mark bowed out.

What is unfortunate is that Noem will spend the next two years running for governor instead of being a congress person, but that’s not all so bad. She can’t take her fortune from her congressional campaign purse to use for the governor’s race, so she will have to run from scratch;

Although she didn’t say it, Noem’s decision to run for governor was forced by a ballot issue that voters approved last week. Initiated Measure 22, which becomes law on Wednesday, contains a provision barring candidates for governor from collecting more than $4,000 a year from any person or political committee.

Once effective, the language would mean that Noem couldn’t transfer more than $4,000 from her congressional campaign account to an account for a governor’s run. Under current law, federal office holders can transfer all of their money into a state account.

For Noem, that would mean forfeiting a huge advantage: Prior to Tuesday’s election, her congressional campaign was reporting nearly $1.9 million in the bank, an amount that would make her a formidable candidate in the Republican primary.

UPDATE: Now let’s move to Mr. Huether. He is a determined man who likes to win, but like running for mayor instead of governor to begin with, he took the path of least resistance. Congress would be that path, maybe. I do know that there has been a strong desire for Dusty Johnson to throw his hat in the ring. A Johnson vs. Huether matchup would be interesting to watch, they have many similarities when it comes to campaigning. South Dakotans, while they lean pretty much right, they do elect moderate Democrats to Washington, Huether could easily sell himself that way with no incumbent to run against. Not to mention, he would love Washington. I have often contended that he really doesn’t like Sioux Falls because he has been so persistent to change it into other places like San Antonio.

If I was advising Huether I would recommend he run for congress instead of governor, but hey when you have a bucket list, you have a bucket list. But Noem would cream him.

I will say this though, no matter what he decides, don’t under estimate him, because that is when he bites you in the ass.

SF City Council Sioux Falls

So how many options will the Sioux Falls City Council have hiring their new auditor

l3wis 3Comments

The audit committee meets today in executive session, to what I would assume is to meet candidates for the future lead auditor position. The auditor position is hired by the city council and NOT appointed by the mayor. But it seems like the firing of Debra Owen and the hiring of city clerk Tom Greco, the mayor’s human resources department stuck their nose in the process (more like the mayor’s nose). As I understand it, HR basically did the vetting process instead of the city council. So it makes you wonder how many candidates they will be interviewing today (and tomorrow during another executive session for the entire council). Three? Two? One? How pathetic would it be if the council was presented only ONE candidate?

Democrats Elections

Enough of the radio/TV ads and Facebook games, SD Dems need to focus on direct mail

l3wis 7Comments

While all of us want to believe Direct Mail in political campaigns is a thing of the past, you couldn’t be further from the truth. When targeted at specific voters, especially likely voters, it is quite effective, and believe it or not, very affordable.

This is what the United States Post Office says about it;

Why use it?

Direct Mail is one of the most powerful tools to get your message to voters. Your mailings will be:

  • Cost–effective by mailing to specific areas or addresses, and the format can be as inexpensive as a postcard.
  • Personalized with messages and graphics to tell the story of your candidate or message.

As a person who has worked in Graphic Design and specifically direct mail for over 22 years, I have seen the positive effects of strategic direct mail campaigns.

The Wellstone organization, who is the leader in grassroots campaigns has said this about direct mail;

TIP #2: BEGIN WITH A GOOD PLAN

  • Strategic universe: Make sure you define who your targeted voters are using the voter file. If you have a mail consultant, he or she can help you figure out your universe.
  • Repetition matters: Your mail plan must include multiple contacts with targeted voters over a span of time building toward Election Day.
  • Complements other media: To support the campaign message your direct mail must complement all other communications – not just paid media, but what the candidate is saying on the stump, what volunteers are saying at the doors, etc.
  • Thoughtful timelines: Your plan must balance resources with repetition and timeliness of your mail.  Most voters aren’t paying attention to a campaign until the last 90 days. The challenge in waiting until voters are tuned in is that you will be competing against the clutter of everyone else’s mail; you’ll want to make sure you have a big enough program with enough repetition and creative design to break through the clutter.  If you start too early, without a large enough program to sustain consistent contact throughout you risk being forgotten or will not have the repetition during voters’ key decision time.

So what I can’t figure out is why the South Dakota Democratic party steers away from those campaigns, or has weak ones? The SD Republicans always use them, and quite effectively. Guess what? They also win.

The SD Democratic Party needs to wakeup and embrace the power of direct mail.

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