Dakota War College reports that Alex Jensen wants to jump chambers and districts. The man still listed as a District 12 Representative wants to become the District 13 Senator. How nice.
Jensen just changed his voter registration this week to an address in District 13:
If Pat Powers’s reporting is correct, if Jensen took out a petition and declared his candidacy today, then he would have filled out and had notarized the following official Declaration of Candidate on his petition:
I, ____________________________ (print name here exactly as you want it on the election ballot), under oath, declare that I am eligible to seek the office for which I am a candidate, that I am registered to vote as a member of the ________________ party, and that if I am a legislative or county commission candidate I reside in the district from which I am a candidate. If nominated and elected, I will qualify and serve in that office [ARSD 05:02:08:01].
By swearing that oath today, and by showing that declaration to voters on his petition sheets between now and the submission deadline of March 29, Jensen is making clear that he no longer lives in District 12, which means that, under the clear wording of Article 3 Section 3 of the South Dakota Constitution, Jensen is no longer qualified for the office of Representative from District 12.
Jensen did attend today’s House session and cast a vote for the FY 2017 budget at about 11:30 a.m. CST. Thus, he must have changed his voter registration and sworn his oath sometime after that. And alas, he will have to skip Veto Day on March 29, since he can no longer cast a vote for the people of District 12.
Jensen’s apparent departure from the House creates an interesting situation for the District 12 House race. Governor Daugaard will get to make his ninth appointment to the Legislature. If he moves quickly enough, he can appoint that replacement in time for that replacement to take out a petition, place her or his name on the ballot, and enjoy the gift of incumbency. Again, how nice.
Under SDCL 12-7-6, Alex Jensen must be a resident of District 13 at the time he signs his declaration of candidacy for a District 13 legislative seat.
12-7-6. Candidates for Legislature required to reside in district of candidacy. Any candidate for office in the State Legislature shall be a resident of the district for which he is a candidate at the time he signs his declaration of candidacy on the certificate of nomination as required by this chapter.
Pursuant to SDCL 3-4-1 (5) his District 12 legislative seat is now vacant.
3-4-1. Events causing vacancy in office. An office becomes vacant if one of the following events applies to a member of a governing body or elected officer before the expiration of the term of the office; the person:
(1) Dies;
(2) Resigns;
(3) Is removed from office;
(4) Fails to qualify as provided by law;
(5) Ceases to be a resident of the state, district, county, municipality, township, ward, or precinct in which the duties of the office are to be exercised or for which elected;
(6) Is convicted of any infamous crime or of any offense involving a violation of the official oath of the office; or
(7) Has a judgment obtained against the person for a breach of an official bond.
Mr. Rorschach, are you sure the law bill you are showing applies to the legislatures? I believe there have been several cases recently where some fellow was elected from a district somewhere and then moved to another district and the laws or the courts said they only had to be a resident at the time they were elected. I am not what you would call a lawyer like you but I am just sayin…
Consequentially, I was thumbing through my dictionary earlier today and came across an interesting political term:
carpetbagger |ˈkärpitˌbagər|
noun derogatory
a political candidate who seeks election in an area where they have no local connections.
• historical (in the US) a person from the northern states who went to the South after the Civil War to profit from the Reconstruction.
• a person perceived as an unscrupulous opportunist: the organization is rife with carpetbaggers.
I also hope such a reality does not confuse the LRC:
https://dakotafreepress.com/2016/02/09/district-13-legislator-says-he-lives-in-district-15/
John KC, I hear Jensen actually grew up in District 13… to the extent that districts in gerrymandered Sioux Falls have any real cultural distinction and significance.
Ror, good citations! Grudz, if you have the case law, send us the titles and links. SDCL 3-4-1 pretty clearly encompasses every political subdivision, including district.
Here’s the thing Cory. If Jensen were a Democrat the Governor would be declaring his seat vacant and appointing his replacement. If Chris Madsen had been a Democrat he would not have been permitted to represent Spearfish after moving to Sioux Falls. His seat would have been declared vacant, and Rounds would have appointed his replacement.
You thought we were a government of laws, not men? Think again. There are two sets of rules in SD. One for Republicans, and a different one for Democrats. Take for instance the situation with Blake Curd. To paraphrase the former director of LRC, if Curd were a Democratic legislator with the state contracts he (illegally) has, the GOP party would be dropping a nuclear bomb on him and forcing him out of the senate – much like Bill Janklow once tried to force Mel Olson to resign because he collected a paycheck as a teacher, similar to other GOP legislators who were not told to resign. Or like Mike Kroger who was told he had to either resign his legislative seat or his seat on the Dell Rapids city council – though many Republicans have doubled up in the legislator and as city council members and mayors. The list goes on.
Oh, I think there are definitely some distinctions between the legislative districts in Sioux Falls. Some less notable than others, but 12 and 13 are definitely not carbon copies. For many years, and I believe it to still be true, Legislative District 12 had the largest percentage of senior citizens in the state. While 13 and its politics is greatly influenced by the affluence of the McKennan Park area.
There is good reason for why we went from a “legislative beauty contest” to elect our legislators to the current legislative district system in the more urban areas of our state and to have people jump around without any time constraints is to resemble the old system more than the current system.
If Rep. Jensen is originally from 13, then maybe the “carpet beggar” tag is more appropriate to his time in 12 than 13. It is kind of like saying “I was a carpet beggar” before I was no longer a “carpet beggar”…. Where have I heard that argument before? ;-)
Interesting, John KC. What can you tell me about the current and past legislators of each district: how different are the people who win in 12 and 13?
Carpet bagger. They carried bags that looked like they were made of carpet.
Carpet beggers are something else all together, as my friend Lar could explain.