Kurt Evans wants to be Governor, but he’s switching parties. After announcing his interest in seeking the Constitution Party’s nomination last September, the Wessington Springs technologist has declared his intent to seek the Libertarian Party’s gubernatorial nod at its Convention 2.0 on June 9 in Pierre.
The Libertarian Party thought it had named CJ Abernathey of Eureka its gubernatorial nominee at its April 14 convention in Sioux Falls. However, the Secretary of State rejected that nomination since Abernathey received a plurality vote but not a majority vote of Libertarians present at that meeting, which coincided with one of our April blizzards. The Libertarians’ nominations for Legislative races appear to remain valid, but the Libertarians are reconvening in Pierre next month to nail down a gubernatorial candidate.
Libertarian Party chairman Aaron Aylward says the party is “excited to have Kurt Evans enter the race.” The party provides this press release on Evans:
Evans, 48, of Wessington Springs, is the elder son of the late country musician Kyle Evans, who was named the official troubadour of South Dakota’s 1989 centennial celebration and inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame.
Kurt Evans studied mathematics and science education at South Dakota State University, graduating with academic honors in the class of 1993. He became a high school teacher and basketball coach and was eventually certified as a highly qualified teacher for more than a hundred core content assignments.
Evans ran for United States Senate in 2002 against Democrat Tim Johnson and Republican John Thune. In 2014, he received just over 48,000 votes (20.1 percent) as the Libertarian nominee for South Dakota State Auditor.
Evans says he believes he’s uniquely qualified to help his fellow South Dakotans understand and apply the principles of constitutional liberty [Libertarian Party of South Dakota, press release, 2018.05.19].
Evans has withdrawn his name from the Constitution Party race and stepped down from his position as that party’s secretary. Evans’s switch leaves recent Republican Terry LaFleur as the sole candidate for the Constitution Party’s gubernatorial nod.
CJ Abernathey remains in the Libertarian race. He continues to lead his campaign with claims (in this Facebook video posted Friday) that “my daughter was kidnapped by paternity fraud in 2014,” that the government is depriving him of his rights “under the color of law in an unconstitutional court of equity operating under admiralty law jurisdiction and a quasi-constitution,” that “I have no problem telling a stupid person that they are a stupid person,” and that we are under martial law.
I have many disagreements with Kurt Evans, but he never resorts to cheap schoolyard insults or mad conspiracy theories to avoid discussing real practical issues. If I were a Libertarian in Pierre on June 9, I’d nominate Kurt Evans for Governor.
Challenge him to a spelling contest.
Thanks, Cory. I see Pat Powers even published a post about me without libeling me for a change: http://dakotawarcollege.com/a-funny-thing-happened-to-cj-abernathey-on-the-way-to-the-libertarian-nomination-for-governor/
If that’s a reflection of CJ Abernathey’s power, he’s apparently not to be trifled with. :-)
Seriously, CJ and I had a lengthy phone conversation last night. To his credit, he seemed determined to fight this out at the convention. Also to his credit, he was well-spoken and polite.
Maybe the one who comes up short for the governor nomination should run for US House.
I believe George Hendrickson officially secured the Libertarian nomination for U.S. House when the party first convened in April (https://georgehendrickson.com/).
If I was a SD Libertarian, Kurt would get my support in a heartbeat. I don’t agree with him on some issues, but by and large he seems a decent man, fair, open-minded, smart, realist, grounded. Those are pretty good characteristics and place him at a distinct advantage over the other candidate. Good luck Kurt,
Thanks, Deb. We’ve had some sharp conflicts here over the years, but for the most part I’ve appreciated the dialogue.
With Mr. Evans now in the running, grudznick will graciously move aside knowing there is a reasonable and uninsane Libertarian set to be elected.
Evans is correct: Hendrickson is already certified as the Libertarian nominee for U.S. House. Libertarians should nominate the experienced and civil Evans for governor and keep Abernathey off the ticket. The well-spokenness and politeness that Evans reports from his first direct interaction with Abernathey seems to be an exception to the norm of brittle fringe rantings that characterize Abernathey’s online conduct.
Don’t be scared away, Grudz! I’d love to see a three-way debate for the nomination at LibCon 2.0! Plus, Mr. Evans could use a reasonable and uninsane lieutenant.