Independents didn’t exactly rush the Secretary of State’s office for Tuesday’s petition deadline. We appear to have gained only three more “independent” candidates for Legislature this week. In addition to Mary Perpich, who mailed her petition Monday and is really a Democrat, Peter Klebanoff of Baltic filed an independent petition for District 25 Senate and Roger Hofer of Bridgewater filed an independent petition for District 19 House.
Klebanoff makes the biggest shift in the the ballot situation, entering a race in which there was no Democratic entrant. District 25 voters, in northern and eastern Minnehaha County, would have seen the GOP primary electorate choose either incumbent Senator Kris Langer or challenger Dale Barnhart. Klebanoff’s indy entry now guarantees that every District 25 voter gets a say in November in who gets the Senate seat.
Klebanoff, a social media consultant (should we watch out for TenHakenite shenanigans?), has popped up in the press as a voice of reasons, urging 2016 electors to vote for John Kasich instead of Trump and advocating raising the minimum wage and trickle-up economics. Klebanoff and his wife Deb also appreciate trees and are not pleased with the township’s senseless removal of trees alongside the road past Deb’s Retreat at Pointer’s Ridge. (That’s my kind of tree-hugging!)
Roger Hofer doesn’t change the election situation as much: District 19 (McCook, Hanson, Douglas, Hutchinson, and half of Bon Homme) already had three Republicans and one Democrat contending for its two House seats. Hofer simply expands the options to four come November.
Hofer is, of course, a hard name to Google; District 19 is full of Hofers. But Bridgewater City Council minutes show Roger Hofer serving as an EMT and volunteer fireman. Hofer ran for McCook County Commission as a Republican in 2008. Hofer ran for District 19 House in 2012 as a Republican and placed fourth in a four-man primary against winners Stace Nelson and Kyle Schoenfish and fellow loser Jim Putnam. During that camapign, Hofer, a bean farmer, had the good sense to oppose HB 1234 and its deleterious merit pay plan. Hofer unsuccessfully appealed his land valuation by director of equalization Tracy Hofer last year.
Statewide we have one possible independent candidate, Ron Wieczorek. The Lyndon LaRouche disciple says he submitted around 4,000 signatures to run for U.S. House. (Funny—KELO Radio says over 4,000; Wieczorke’s Facebook page says nearly 4,000.) Secretary of State Shantel Krebs has yet to certify his petition. If he makes the ballot, Wieczorek will campaign for tariffs and fusion power.
If the Hofers Tschetters and Waldners vote in a block for Roger, that accountant guy who wouldn’t see embezzlement if he audited it will be in big trouble.