By Dana Hess, Community News Service
PIERRE — On Wednesday, lawmakers had to decide if they were closing an election loophole or subverting the will of voters. The Senate State Affairs Committee opted for closing a loophole as it passed SB74.
In offering the bill before the committee, Sen. Jim Bolin, R- Canton, offered a history lesson from District 27 which includes Bennett, Haakon, Jackson, Oglala Lakota counties and a portion of Pennington County.
In 2008, a Democratic senator from District 27, Theresa Two Bulls, was challenged in a primary by another Democrat, Jim Bradford. Bradford lost the primary by 28 votes. Then something odd happened.
According to Bolin, Republicans in that district persuaded their candidate to withdraw from the general election and offered his spot on the ballot to Bradford. Running as a Republican, Bradford narrowly defeated Two Bulls.
Bolin said SB74 makes it clear that a candidate for the Legislature who loses in a primary can’t follow Bradford’s path and run in the general election representing another party.
“It should not occur again,” Bolin said.
Sen. Craig Kennedy, D- Yankton, said the goal of the Legislature should be protecting the right of the people to elect the legislators that they want.
“That was the choice of those voters in that district,” Kennedy said, expressing his intention to vote against the bill.
Passing the bill into law would limit the kind of gamesmanship that occurred in District 27, said Sen. Brock Greenfield, R-Clark.
“I think there’s just something to be said about election integrity,” Greenfield said.
The bill passed through the committee on a vote of 7-2 and now goes on to the full Senate.
