Here’s a rundown of my predictions and how they turned out;
Voter turnout, Prediction: 27,000 voters, Actual: 32,000 voters (27%)
*Pretty close . . .
Mayoral Race, Prediction: Jamison 1st, TenHaken 2nd. Actual: TenHaken 1st, Loetscher 2nd.
*I always had Jo and Paul in a battle royal for 2nd place, just never thought they would make runoff together. Jamison and Entenman really came in lower than I ever thought. It was obvious the energy was behind Paul and Jo.
AT-Large ‘A’, Prediction: Brekke. Actual: Brekke.
*I figured Janet would win in a nail biter or clean house. She cleaned house.
AT-Large ‘B’, Prediction: (Did not make one). Actual: Erickson.
*I wish Nick would have least got 40%, but it is tough beating a popular incumbent.
Central District, Prediction: Soehl 1st, Bardon 2nd. Actual: DeBoer 1st, Soehl 2nd.
*While Bardon didn’t make it. Zach has always been my second choice. GO ZACH!
School Board, Prediction: Thoelke & Parker. Actual: Thoelke & Parker.
*This one should be no surprise. Todd and Kate have been on the school board for several years and are the incumbents. With the new school bond issue on the horizon, they are going to try to keep that board tight. I will give Peter credit though for putting an effort forward.
Not surprised by the TenHaken, Loetscher 1-2 result. I don’t see how Loetscher has a chance against TenHaken in the run-off, as he’ll out raise her 10-to-1 and have the support of Jamison and Entenman voters.
in my district i had a 15 minute wait in line to get to vote at 5pm. of course, 5 minutes of it was for the election workers to go page by page to find my name, and then do the same with every other voter. anyway, there were a lot more 45 and under people in line then 45 and over. just by that i would’ve guessed a thunehaken and jolene run off.
The Mayoral Runoff – a choice between two extremes. This polarization reminds me of the 2016 Republican Presidential primary. Voters ignore the more experienced, more qualified candidates for the shiny, new object instead. The campaign rhetoric over the next three weeks should be interesting.
The Argus was right and the rest of us get a “mulligan” or two.
The voters told us they want new faces, but now it is a question as to whether they want their first female mayor, or merely an other Thune…. It seems to me that the former is something new, while the latter is really “nothing” but the same old tune…
Tightening his tie must have worked, but his Gotham obsession, or narcism, might be his true Achilles heel….. We can only hope… Else, the 1 % will open their champaign while the workers struggle to buy an other beer….
I’m looking at this election as a new STRONG council leadership. Whether it is Paul or Jo, they are going to have to get along with the heavy hitters on the council now. I have NO doubt Zach will pull this off, and a citizen centric council will prevail. I think Christine and Greg will wake up really quick and realize their experience and knowledge will be more beneficial hanging their hats with the majority on the legislative branch and flexing their muscles to being the POLICY making body of this city. It’s time the council puts on their big kids pants and shows the executive branch that they make the important decisions facing us, and let the mayor do what they are supposed to do according to charter, run the operations.
Yet another upcoming election with no one to vote for. Gross.
Entenman proves we’re really tired of Huether. Spend 6 figures and lose at everything. Including Harley. Money can’t buy you love but campaign contributions will buy you an obnoxiously painted 50k train type pickup disgrace.
Sioux Falls Voters are idiots!
Tenhaken doesn’t support the LGBTQ community he’s very christianized
Does a runoff election start a new round of campaign contributing? For example, do the same people or entities who contributed the maximum amount in the first round get to do it all over again?
No, I don’t believe so Warren. $1,000 per calendar year
Agree, I won’t be voting on May 1st. Both candidates lack any experience! Tenhenken has it in the bag, I’m guessing he’s happy to be in the run off with Letcher vs others.
I thought the limit was $1000 per year per candidate?
Entenman was all signs and ads but Harley win or place. Show doesn’t win your money back. I hope Ten Hens doesn’t win the runoff. He’s to Zucherberg like.
Congratulations Sioux Falls! You are on your way to creating an other Thune; an articulate and attractive candidate, who will represent the concerns of the 1% for many years to come. Concerns which will do “nothing” to empower the average citizen with a greater wage, even though the most serious issues facing this town today are the result of low wages…. Good Job!…. Welcome to “ClickReign.”
I clearly missed on the prediction of the youth not voting. Strangely the older voters were not motivated to vote.
“Christianized” Sierra? There are so many things that could be thrown at you, but my “christianized” values guide me to keep ignoring you.
I hope neither win the run-off 🙂
Sioux Falls lost big time last night, what a disappointment. They fell for the “fake†politics of TenHenken and Letcher! They will regret this, just as we regret Huether as mayor!
I happened to be passing through Sioux Falls on Monday and met Jo – she was glad-handing on Phillips. She’s super personable and stopped to chat even though I let her off the hook early by letting her know that I knew who she was but no longer lived in the city.
It’s been funny keeping up with this blog from time to time and hearing people yammer about older voters being decisive, etc. It should’ve been plainly evident to everyone eight years ago that Sioux Falls is kind of over these careerist local government types. Do people think it was “older voters” that propelled Huether to a huge win? Come on.
Greg Jamison for Public Office is a perfect example. Smart, well-intentioned, nice enough guy. But when’s the last election cycle that Greg *hasn’t* had signs out pushing his candidacy for mayor, city council, state representative, on and on?
That whole crew of lifers is just tired. How long until Vernon Brown and De Knudson climb off the bench?
Both Loetscher and Ten Haken have been reasonably successful at running stuff in their adult lives. That’s more than enough qualification to be mayor of a small city – way better qualification than dicking around on a local legislative body, or piddling away time in Pierre. Most of governance is providing leadership and a vision and then delegating the lifting to well-qualified staff with the appropriate technical knowledge to implement.
They may need their feet held to the fire from time to time, but either will do just fine.
I think perhaps what Sierra was alluding to is those who loudly tout “Christian “ values and then speak and act deplorably towards immigrants, African Americans, non Christians and people who are LGBT. It would be assumed that Paul’s religious values have no impact on his role( I hope not) as Mayor, but they do. He has run his campaign on transparency, but he has refused any conversations on topics that actually dig “deepâ€.
Rachel – Actually, I think Jolene is trying to exploit LGBTQ and gender issues for the sake of easy votes. I’m told that she pissed off Women’s March organizers when she monopolized the microphone and made the rally about herself and her campaign. But that’s who Jolene is and always has been. Watch the debates in the next two weeks and listen carefully to the words used by both candidates.
Speaking of Christianity and ThuneHaken, when asked about that question, ThuneHaken at Democratic Forum recently started immediately talking about race which I thought was odd. Because, was he legitimizing the argument that somehow a Christian is a racist or perceived to be one?….. I mean MLK was a Christian, so based on ThuneHaken’s logic, then wouldn’t MLK be a racist too by default? It was a very odd thread that ThuneHaken took after being questioned about his faith. Then he rambled on about meeting these parents with a ten year old transgender child as if that meeting itself means he is pro transgender. The totality of his comments suggested that he wasn’t like most Christians, but as a Christian myself, I was horrified by how he handled the question, however.
When JFK was challenged about his Catholicism relative to Protestantism, he didn’t response by trying to demonstrate how Catholics and Protestants are similar, rather he talked about how his religion would not get in the way of fairly governing all with out any greater, or in this case, papal interference. As a Christian, myself, I would want a fellow Christian, who is seeking office, to not be apologetic for their religion, rather I would want them to affirm that they want to be the fair leader of all people regardless of faith or not; and not one who only further empowers stereotypes by suggesting that he is some kind of better or new improved Christian.
Why is it that folks who say they needed to be “treated the same” are the first to categorize themselves and believe they need special attention? Pauls not my choice, but I’ve never heard him say anything that would make me think he’s anti anyone.
90% of modern christians don’t care whom you think you are, whom you share fluids with or where you where born. 90% of modern christians are fed up with being accused of being called everything you call us.
Most are exploiting the LGBTQ issues because they too want to be considered a special category some day.
To rephrase a famous quote,
Your Here. Your whatever. We’re over it.
I figured Loetscher getting into the run off with about 25-30% of the vote, simply because Ten Haken, Entemann and Jamison were likely going to split the Republican vote and Anderson never seemed like a viable contender on the left-leaning side. This does mean that Jo gets obliterated in the runoff, as I don’t see where she gets enough votes from Entemann and Jamison voters to overtake PTH.
JP,
On election night I put it at a 63 to 37 ThuneHaken race, but after the “Sanford comment,” I think it is a 55 to 45 ThuneHaken race.
It will all come down to just how many women in the “Taupe Housing Society of Conformity” area of town will tell their hubbies that they are voting for ThuneHaken, but then quietly will go off and vote for Jo. Plus, it will be interesting to see if the Jo camp does a better job of getting the “Core” vote out for her, than they did for the primary too.
#Women!HereIsYourChance