Lawrence County Democrats Organizing Tuesday, March 8, 7 p.m., Spearfish

Arise, ye Lawrence County Democrats! Darrell Reifenrath is hosting an organizational meeting for Democrats in the Northern Hills next week Tuesday, March 8, at 7 p.m. at Killian’s Tavern in Spearfish.

After a draining campaign in 2010 and a decline in membership, the Lawrence County Democrats dissolved in 2012. Reifenrath senses that 2016 is a good year for Democrats in Spearfish, Lead, Deadwood, and Nemo to get back on the donkey and charge the elephants’ creaking windmill.

Lawrence County will be one of the tougher districts in which to make Democratic progress. According to Secretary Krebs’s handy-dandy voter registration map, Lawrence County, which makes up all of District 31, has 8,465 Republicans, 3,910 Democrats, and 3,543 Independents. Lawrence County Democrats will need to recruit all of the Indies and half of the 2,204 inactive voters to outnumber Republicans at the polls.

On the plus side, District 31 Dems can hang support for the embarrassing anti-transgender potty bill on Rep. Tim Johns and Senator Bob Ewing. They also have an open House seat to contest as Rep. Fred Romkema steps aside and less-than-energizing Deadwood Mayor Chuck Turbiville tries to return for a fifth term to Pierre after a four-year hiatus.

And for all Democrats feeling outnumbered in South Dakota, consider the following voter turnout factors:

• Republicans are going to top their ticket with either a train wreck (Trump) or a lucky washout (Cruz or Rubio), either of which will depress GOP turnout. Democrats will offer either the historically energizing first female Presidential nominee or the revolutionarily energizing underdog Jewish socialist from Vermont. A higher percentage of Democrats will look at the top of the ticket and say, “Whoo-hoo! Let’s vote!” while a higher percentage of Republicans will say, “Pee-yew!” and stay home.
• We have ten referenda and initiatives on the ballot (nine, once my petition challenge passes and the payday lenders’ bushwah fails). Six of them (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and T) should excite Democrats in particular. 22 and 23 might excite Republican voters. Democrats can use those ballot measures better than Republicans to drive voter turnout.
• The major state issues grabbing voter attention this year are teacher pay and the Republican driven culture war. No one has offered reliable polling, but the more vocal side seems to be voters who are saying fund higher teacher pay and stop embarrassing South Dakota with uninformed, bigoted bills. Republicans are the primary source of distraction and obstruction, and voters are feeling fed up.

2016 is a uniquely good year for Democrats in Lawrence County and the rest of South Dakota to refire their engines and push for change. Spearfish and Deadwood friends, drop by Killian’s on March 8, 7 p.m., and see what you can do for your Democratic Party.