It’s official: I have already won half of my District 3 Senate campaign by driving the current underperforming incumbent from his seat:
After 10 years in the Legislature, District 3 Sen. David Novstrup, R-Aberdeen, said he’s decided not to run again.
…Novstrup said deciding not to run was difficult, especially this past week. He said he really enjoyed the debate concerning a half-percent increase in the state’s sales tax to fund an increase in teacher salaries.
He said he’d like to focus more time on his family, including twin daughters and a 15-month-old son, and his business [Elisa Sand, “Sen. David Novstrup Not Seeking Re-Election,” Aberdeen American News, 2016.03.05].
Senator David Novstrup certainly didn’t sound as if he was enjoying the debate when he led the effort to kill funding for this year’s historic teacher pay raises. He was probably not relishing having defend his support for the failed anti-transgender potty bill or his sponsorship of the fake religious freedom bill intended to legitimize harassment of LGBT South Dakotans, single moms, and anyone else having sex that his church friends don’t like. And he probably had no desire whatsoever to spend the campaign season on the ballot alongside Referred Law 20, the public’s direct rebuke to his 2015 effort to undo the minimum wage initiative that voters passed in 2014.
So instead of standing his ground against an enthusiastic Democratic challenger who announced his candidacy on February 8 and plans to focus on three issues—supporting education, defending voter rights, and calling attention to corruption instead of culture-war distractions—on which Senator David Novstrup is keenly vulnerable, David steps aside so his dad Al fight for the Senate seat. The Novstrups’ choice thus leaves Al’s seat in the House open.
David Novstrup’s departure from his Senate seat is good for District 3. Now the voters need to fill it with a public servant who will solve problems instead of creating new ones.
well if he debates you I think we know who would win.
No guarantees there, Moses—Al is pretty clever!
You are a most gracious winner.
“supporting education, defending voter rights, and calling attention to corruption instead of culture-war distractions”
The education bill this year is not referable and was put together with the corrupt system. Voter rights? Your party is part of the problem as it supported taking money from the working poor so that their children are feed propaganda in our pubic schools as part of the culture war.
What is the ultimate goal of the social engineers? Are they just doing it for their own entertainment or is there an insidious end-game?
Mr. Al Novstrup has a remarkable haircut to use as his trademark. People remember that. You need to keep the coif going, Mr. H. Be the wild-eyed crazy man in your race.
“What is the ultimate goal of the social engineers?”
Complete control.
Social engineers force religion and right wing politics into innocent children’s minds so they become dependable voting, Fake Noize swilling zombies.
Be afraid, Sibby! Be very afraid!
Sibson, are you so weak that someone could actually control you?
how was jesus of nazareth not a social engineer?
What is the ultimate goal of social change? The same as it’s always been, through the centuries. . .open society to and for all of society, including those who happen to be a bit different, who don’t fit into the social mold which the majority demands.
how were paul of tarsus and augustine of hippo not social engineers? or leonardo da vinci? or thomas jefferson or lawrence of elkton?
Novstrup Jr. is just gearing up for his 2018 State Auditor campaign.
State Auditor? How is David qualified for that office?
Guys, try not to let Sibby bait you so far off topic.
Is Scott Munsterman’s returning to private life on topic?
Sibson doesn’t want his POV to be questionable?
(completely in control).
The younger Mr. Novstrup would make a good state auditor. No state auditor before him was more qualified than he unless you go back to Alice Kundert. Now there was a woman to be reckoned with. You had to reckon with her or she’d smite you from the blind side. It is possible he is going to marshal all his delegates in the next year to get the cushiest job in all of government.
Cory, Serving as a representative or a senator is hard work. It takes you away from your family (unless you live in Pierre) It takes you away from your job. You get to listen to lobbyists, citizens with concerns, and deal with a flood of form letters. No one really likes politics or politicians. In someways it is a thankless job.
Before you go off condemning Senator Novstrup, Maybe you should thank him for serving District 3 for as long as he has.
Mr. H knows all about the legislatures, Mr. MC. But I, for one, thank the younger Mr. Novstrup for all of his service and hard work. He was truly a leader for District of Aberdeen, I am sure.
I have a feeling the Senior Mr. Novstrup will end up beating you in this race but I wish you the best of luck in your race. Have to show you are willing to work with people not just against them.
MC-from where I sit,you servants of gubmint don’t appear to take your legislative jobs all that seriously. You flood your dockets with anti-women screeds and attempts to force your brand of morality on Dakota’s citizens. You want to protect clumps of cells until they are forced to be born,but basically ignore them for the rest of their and your lives. Your side just has to show how mean you can be to others who aren’t exactly like you in every way. Your party has turned virtually a blind eye to the corruption in your state,you aren’t accountable for fraud and waste. You’ll surely forgive those of us who don’t feel the need to honor those we (me) feel aren’t honorable.
You know, Mr. H would make a fine state auditor himself and it would really annoy the younger of the Novstrups if wherever he goes and runs he finds Mr. H waiting for him.
mfi, I couldn’t agree more.
Given the way this legislature and the ones in recent years have behaved, they should all be replaced.
There are only a handful of the representatives and senators that deserve a thank you.
There should be no doubt that Cory could handle his job in the legislature and more.
mfi, when you say your party, of which one were you speaking. The Dems in the state, with the exception of Kathy Tyler turned a blind eye to the EB-5 mess and when she called the legislature on it, not one Dem stood behind her.
One Dem had the courage to vote against the 1/2 cent sales tax raise, which is purportedly to raise teacher pay, but in order to make it palletable to the rest of the taxpayers, they had to attach some more property tax rebate money in the bill. Since when did it become the responsibility of the Dems to let this governor and the Republican party off the hook for the absurd way that they have let teacher pay slide so far behind the rest of the country?
The municipality 1 cent sales tax comes up Monday in the Senate committee. It has already passed the House. There were three Dems and 12 Repubs on the committee that referred it to the full house. The Repubs voted 6-6 on a motion to refer it to the 41st day, if two of the three dems had voted yes on that referral, it would have died in the committee. But they voted no and then vote yes on the do pass amendment.
When that bill passes the Senate and in effect gives cities like SF and RC and Aberdeen the chance to raise the sales tax on food clothes and all the other necessities of life to 7 1/2%, you will hear the “progressives” on here scream like banshees. And believe me, I don’t know about RC or Aberdeen, but Sioux Falls will have it in effect before 2017.
Lanny- it only takes 1/3 vote to smoke the bill out of committee. If the Republicans want to bring it to the Senate, the Smokeout is a foregone conclusion, no matter which way the Democrats vote. It’s not like the Democrats in the committee were going to get the bill killed if there is support for it in the Senate.
Come on,Lanny. You know Dems don’t control anything in South Dakota, and at present, are basically irrelevant in Dakota’s politics.
It is coming on Spring. Hope “springs” eternal. Vote Cory and others like him in to office and “hopefully” the political climate will change for the better. Climate change is and can be a reality,even in a wingnut cesspool like South Dakota,
btw Lanny,alot of what you say about Dems is the truth. You’d have to ask them why they voted the way they did. Maybe they were being bribed or compromising on this bill for favorable votes on another. I can’t pretend to know their motives.
MC, work in physics is the product of force applied over distance. If you don’t push, there’s no work. If your push doesn’t cover distance, there’s no work.
Before we give thanks for David Novstrup’s work, we must ask, what push? What distance covered?
I don’t thank people for just sitting in a chair.
Leave us throw a gala bash for all the broken clocks that be right twice a day.
Regular as clockwork,they be. I might add.
Elections are not won by pretending your opponent had or has value.
It is no lie that most of our representation in Pierre has little to no value or there would have been a house cleaning on the obvious problems of mostly appointed officials.
Wait until Trump gets Hilary in the grinder if he indeed turns out non shill for her.
Dave L., I agree that beating Al won’t be easy. I also agree that a good legislator has to work with people as well as against bad proposals. I can and will do both. I disagree vocally and vigorously with legislators who are wrong, but I can also have conversations with the folks farthest away from me on the political spectrum to find solutions.
My willingness to tolerate HB 1182 (which Lanny clearly and not unjustifiably dislikes) is a good example of my ability to work practically with legislators of opposing positions. I made pretty clear in January that the Democratic plan (less regressive sales tax increase, higher target teacher salary, less pressure for small schools to shed staff) should be our goal. When no one in a position to make that happen signed on to that notion, when the Governor, SDEA, and legislative leadership made clear no other viable plan would pass this Session, I accepted the position that suboptimal action to raise teacher pay was better than another year of inaction. I can have those practical conversations to solve problems.
Your explanation doesn’t wash, Cory. To solve one problem, (the Republican created, and particularly the Rounds/Daugaard created teacher pay problem) by creating another problem, for those who don’t have, or have less than the teachers, as I have pointed out time and again, is unconscionable.
The governor was the biggest creator of the problem back in 2010, when he attempted to cut teacher pay by 10% after saying in the campaign that he would not cut education funding, should not have now been let off the hook with HIS proposal by dumping the problem onto the taxpayers, particularly those who have less than the teachers do. Granted, the legislature only let him cut it by 6 1/2%, but as I also pointed out, only last year did the teachers catch back up to where they had been, at a time when state government continues to expand, in spite of the fact that the population has not grown that much. Add to that the fact that the governor’s plan cuts 400 teachers and there is a lot of greed and selfishness going on, on the part of the teachers and the so called progressives.
Mr. Stricherz, if people keep blogging enough that this 1182 cuts 400 teachers, eventually the weak-minded will believe and start calling for 400 heads on a pike.
So what is our solution, Lanny? We offered to solve Problem #1 without aggravating Problem #2. That solution didn’t have the votes. If you contend that raising sales tax is unconscionable, and if I contend that leaving teacher pay in last place and losing more teachers is unconscionable, what do we do?
We are sacrificing treasure and principle to fix Al and David and the GOP’s 40-year antipathy and neglect toward public education. I don’t like this sacrifice, but it’s going to make a difference. Now that we’ve made progress on solving Problem #1, do we acknowledge how we’ve aggravated Problem #2 and work to solve that in the 2016 general election and the 2017 Session? Or do we declare a pox on both parties and every candidate and give up?
Mr. H will not give up, Mr. Stricherz. He will blame Al and fail.
You are two-thirds correct, Grudz.
Lanny,how do you figure the teachers are being greedy? They have, for the lazy 30 years been the lowest paid group in the nation. You yourself have said they just got back to 2010 levels last year. Why do they need to stick around and be abused by your politicians who clearly see no value in public education? They can jump the border in virtually any direction (except South if they skip Nebraska and land in Kansas) and get paid better in lucre and respect. The constitution calls for public education for all children. Someone has to teach and those teachers need to be paid decently. Work with Cory and others to find the best solutions.
(And warning—turning this post into a straight debate on HB 1182 and next Legislative steps may take us away from the main topic, which is David Novstrup’s fearful flight from my candidacy. We can keep this strand on topic by reminding everyone that David is quitting and ceding his slot to his dad because David would have had a harder time defending his failure to do anything about either teacher pay or South Dakota’s regressive tax system during his entire tenure in Pierre. I’m saying I support solving both problems. I’m saying that increasing our regressive tax is bad, but not as bad as inaction on teacher pay, kind of like I’d say killing people is bad, but leaving the Nazis in control of Europe was worse, so off we go with our guns, with the promise that we’ll get this awful thing done and build a lasting peace ASAP.)
It will be interesting to see how much the half cent sales tax increase for teachers will be debated in the 2016 elections. Will the electorate challenge candidates over their votes on1182?
Roger, that’s a question I am eager to see the electorate answer. I will certainly tell them they should boot any legislator who did not vote for HB 1182. Here in District 3, they’ll have to ask Rep. Dan Kaiser how he would have voted. Plus, we still need to see the final disposition of SB 131, which puts the money into teachers’ hands.
More importantly, candidates need to make clear to voters that we haven’t solved the teacher shortage with one legislative package. We can’t just pass HB 1182 and SB 131 and assume the system will now run fine all by itself. We need to elect legislators who will now commit to spending every session making sure we protect and build on the gains this bill makes for K-12 education. For teachers, that means making sure we never drain that money away to other priorities and that we constantly monitor our teacher pay to make sure we’re keeping up with the market rates. For taxpayers, that means amplifying Lanny’s message that we’re still overburdening the poor with regressive taxes and that we need to reform our state structure, first by getting rid of the tax on food, then by seeking other progressive reforms to more fairly tap our available wealth.
Next year we need legislatures committed to raising the pay of cooks and plumbers and custodians. They are 51st in the nation. A shame.
Les said, “Elections are not won by pretending your opponent had or has value.”
See also the vast body of comments from Trump, Cruz, and Rubio praising Bernie Sanders for his work in the US Senate and Hillary Clinton for her performance as Secretary of State. Hmm….
Grudz, you show me the Legislature’s Constitutional obligation to maintain a free, fair, and universal system of public cooks, plumbers, and custodians, show me the simple two-bill package (actually, one bill: I don’t believe in all these Daugaardian/Venhuizenian complications) that raises those workers’ pay, and I’m your prime sponsor.
I think the legislatures were already maintaining a free, fair and universal system of teachers. They just wanted more money. If you get elected, Mr. H, there will be many bill packages you will sponsor. Some may be mine.
Really, Grudz? Do you think I’d be better equipped to carry your bills than Novstrup père? What do I get out of carrying your bills? ;-)
Your summary of the K-12 situation is incorrect. The Legislature was letting the free, fair, and universal system of public education fall into perilous disrepair. They neglected teacher pay for over 30 years. They have now passed a bill that will still require constant commitment to ensure we undo that neglect over the coming decade. We all want more money; school districts need more money to keep teachers in the classroom. So sayeth the market.
Mr. H, you get the common satisfaction of doing what is right. You aspire to be a public servant so you should serve. But I know you want some things on the side so I will see you get some perqs. Normally we don’t like our legislatures to have perqs but in your case, should you win, I guess you expect it.
I personally will make sure you get a free breakfast once a week when you are sitting in the legislatures. A good, belly filling breakfast, the sort that a fellow can debate all afternoon on.
If you won’t take my free breakfast, Mr. H, will you take a pledge to not take any free food from lobbyists or special interests while you are in the legislatures? Will you pledge that?
Grudz, you misunderstand my question. I seek no free donuts. I also don’t want you to run afoul of SDCL 2-12-9 by offering inducements to get legislation passed. I’m talking about the kind of politics Democrats ought to be practicing in offering the Governor their unwavering support for his teacher pay plan. You haven’t shown me the bills from your briefcase that you think I would carry, but I can only assume those bills would include a number of wiseguy ideas meant to provoke the Legislature and other lobbyists. I’ll have plenty of my own bills and bills from my enlarged caucus to promote. If I’m going to devote energy to your bills, I’ll need to (a) see the merits of your bills and (b) see how much energy you’re willing to put into helping me pass my bills.
I get free donuts now when I judge debate. No donut has ever changed how I vote in debate rounds. But I will relish eating Al and David’s donuts.
Corey, I was informed by Senator David Novstrup on October 27, 2015 that he was not running for reelection. Within two weeks, it was decided that Rep Al Novstrup will run for the Senate seat. I am sorry that facts will get in the way of your conjectures. Truth always win.
Cory,
David Novstrup has a young family and with what his responsibilities are at work and serving serving in the legislature with the time it involves aside from being in session all those years not running for re-election is totally understandable. Family is so important especially in those years.
Al will return to the Senate and do a great job there.
What time of day was that informing Ms. Cornelius, a curious reader would ask?
So you like Al’s transgender paranoia and anti-gay and anti-minimum wage beliefs, Lynn?
Lynn just does not like Cory. It irks her that he is not on her anti whatever campaign issues. Lynn seems like she is just lonely and wants to be noticed.
Jenny,
Al Novstrup is a very level headed and low key kind of guy, respectful, willing to listen and really takes the time to study both sides of an issue. One may not agree with how a legislator votes 100% of the time but he has been a very good legislator up in District 3. They have re-elected him up there for years and it’s highly doubtful he will be defeated.
Novstrup represents red state collapse.
Jenny,
Non threatening and respectful one on one education of issues goes a long ways in helping legislators understand the impact of what they are doing in Pierre . It can take time but it does help. Common ground can be found many times. If they still don’t agree or understand there may be opportunities to work together on other issues. Relationships are built and there is a mutual respect.
The James River is polluted because of guys just like Al.
So there ya go Jenny, right out of the horses_______ Lynn never disappoints she is as easy to read as a lit up billboard on a clear night. All paint with little substance.
Lynn, curious who you think you will convince here or is your quixotic crusade simply ducks in the wind?
The Drunkards Without Clues blog has gone to the dogs, init?
Jerry,
Let’s just put it this way. While you spend 12 hours a day every day posting on this blog being an armchair analyst being all angry at the world & smokin dope I’ve been out there quietly doing what I could trying to help regarding various issues. It was a collective effort. The dial has moved in a positive direction.
lol.
Some of us are retired, Lynn working to reverse red state collapse.
I am building a 16 x 24 casita while commenting here, Lynn. You are At a video lootery terminal paying your taxes.
It was a collective effort. Sounds like Commie talk.
The only dial that’s moved in a positive direction Lynn is the soap of that name. Try as it may, it will not do justice to your odious behavior. Keep scrubbing though as this seems to keep you occupied. Maybe try a little Dawn in your life, both figuratively and realistically.
Char, you folks are really working hard to retell this story after the fact. Do we have documentation of those conversations?
Larry, Lynn, your back and forth sniping makes the comment section tedious and uninstructive. Knock it off.