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Former Judge Tim Bjorkman Declares Run for U.S. House

First official Bjorkman campaign photo: checked shirt, wood fence... ah, country living....
First official Bjorkman campaign photo: checked shirt, wood fence—ah, country living….

Speaking of Democratic candidates, we have another declared contender for the U.S. House race. A month after his final day as circuit court judge, Tim Bjorkman has announced he wants to go to Congress.

The Canistota man hasn’t put up a website yet, but he did reserve the domain TimBjorkman.com late Saturday night (03:14:49 Zulu Time Sunday morning, says the ICANN WHOIS record). The campaign has put up a Facebook page for the official campaign kick-off, which is Thursday, 6 p.m., at the Canistota Public School Veterans Memorial near 4th and Main. The event promises a “non-partisan, thoughtful, outside-the-box advocate who will be a strong voice for South Dakota and against corporate Washington.”

Bjorkman has appeared twice at the Sioux Falls Democratic Forum in the last three months. Theoretically, he would face Chris Martian in the primary, but since announcing his desire to run for Congress in April, Martian has been politically quiet. The Mitchell Daily Republic mentioned some candidatorial posturing by Senator Troy Heinert and Rep. Shawn Bordeaux on Friday in Pickstown, but neither of them have pulled any official triggers.

10 Comments

  1. Owen 2017-07-10 10:58

    Bob Mercer said independent?????

  2. Curt 2017-07-10 11:41

    I believe you can describe Mr Bjorkman’s candidacy as “independent”, although he will run as a Democrat.

  3. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2017-07-10 11:57

    Curt, you seem to be saying he’ll have “D” by his name on the ballot. Will he do anything to build the Democratic brand?

  4. LS 2017-07-10 12:18

    Cory, just a reminder that elected officials are supposed to serve the people, not the party. As an Independent voter, whether or not the candidate can build the Democratic brand will most certainly NOT be one of the criteria I consider before casting a vote.

  5. Curt 2017-07-10 12:19

    Not sure what Bjorkman plans to do to “build the Democratic brand”, but a glance at his first press release reveals references in two paragraphs to “partisanship” and “partisan bickering”, plus a plan to focus on “ways both parties fail rural America.”
    I believe Bjorkman has studied issues and problems facing SD and the country as a whole, and has ideas to bring about solutions. He did not swallow the DNC agenda whole, but seems to believe he aligns more with Dems than Repubs.

  6. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2017-07-10 17:12

    And LS, I don’t mind if you pay no attention to that criterion, as long as Bjorkman convinces you that he’ll do a better job of advancing South Dakota’s interests and protecting us from Trump than anyone else on the ballot. However, as a committed Democrat who believes that a strong Democratic Party serves the interests of this state, I reserve the right to expect a good Democratic candidate to spend some time engaging in positive campaigning that will strengthen the Democratic brand, other Democratic candidates, and the Democratic Party. We aren’t at odds here: you want Bjorkman to do certain things well; I want him to do those certain things well plus one more important thing.

    Looking at what Curt says, I am not at all concerned about finding someone who swallows the DNC agenda. I’d rather have a candidate put on the Dem hat, focus on South Dakota issues while ignoring whatever national-level in-party wrestling match is going on, and campaign so hard and so well that the DNC will be forced to back a winner in SD.

  7. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2017-07-10 17:16

    In a good sign, DWC is struggling to come up with anything bad to say about Bjorkman. So far, Powers has lurched from hoping Bjorkman would run Indy and thus disappoint Dems to trying to gin up the party’s acknowledgment of Bjorkman’s candidacy and ignoring of Martian’s announcement in April as a reason for Berniecrats to be mad. The latter is funny, because by ignoring Martian, the Dems seem to be endorsing Pat’s depiction of Martian as a potty-mouthed non-serious candidate. Pat’s narratives are all about momentary convenience, not an effort to explain the world factually.

  8. Porter Lansing 2017-07-10 17:24

    In the world of analogy, the uber-powerful Nazi Regime and Japanese Empire weren’t beaten by Britain or USA. They were beaten by The Allies. Same will be said about the defeat of the South Dakota Republican Party. Non-Republicans Unite!!!

  9. Dana P 2017-07-10 18:09

    Don’t know a darn thing about Bjorkman, but am looking forward to learning more. Glad to see that he is throwing his hat in the ring. Very glad to see it.

  10. Rod Hall 2017-07-10 22:30

    This is very interesting!

Comments are closed.