The District 22 Democratic Forum lands the only tussling Democratic statewide candidates for its next noontime show. Tatewin Means and Randy Seiler, contenders for the Democratic nomination for attorney general, will speak at a special Democratic Forum at the Huron Events Center (that’s downtown, attached to the Crossroads) on Thursday, May 31st, at 12 p.m.
The press release from the D-22 Dems reminds us of our candidates’ qualifications:
Tatewin Means earned a bachelor of science degree in environmental engineering from Stanford University and a law degree from the University of Minnesota School of Law in 2010. She has served as Attorney General for the Oglala Sioux Tribe and currently chairs graduate studies at Oglala Lakota College.
Randy Seiler is a 1980 graduate of the University of South Dakota School of Law. He served as U.S. Attorney for South Dakota from 2015 to 2017. Prior to that he was First Assistant U.S. Attorney for Tribal Liaison for the District of South Dakota under U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson [District 22 Democratic Forum, press release, 2018.05.25].
Means and Seiler are working the state hard. Both spoke Wednesday at the Sioux Falls Democratic Forum’s JFK-101 celebration. Seiler hosted a fundraiser in Fort Pierre Thursday evening while his campaign manager worked the Brown County Democrats’ nominee-selection meeting here in Aberdeen.
Means has been hitting social media a little harder, pushing county parties’ meetings and urging her followers to attend and win seats as delegates to next month’s convention, where the A.G. nominee will be chosen. I have no delegate headcount, but Means is winning the Facebook primary, scoring 4,102 Likes compared to Seiler’s 558. But if you were a statewide candidate, which would you prefer: seven times as many Facebook Likes or fifteen times as much money?
Means could hire emminently qualified as no.2 &get to bottom of EB5 gift to Benda’s Joop to stop GOP cronies ROUNDS DAUGAARD TIDEMAN JACKLEY REGENTS NSU & Brendan’s polutical “walk” AND scare the sheit out of Noem if governor. Or visa versa for Randy. With Billie, Tim, Tatewin, Randy & our legislative Cowboys and Indians, integrity which SD may deserve, is on our horizon (with Black Elk Peak:)
I would like to point out that Tatewin Means was not honest on her pre-primary finance report. Not reporting in-kind contributions is illegal. I would also like to point out that the vast majority of those likes on her Facebook page are from out of state and to me that means she paid for them, yet another expenditure left off the books. I can only imagine the field day the GOP would have with her.
Cory will this be on Facebook live or will you be attending to report?
John, alas, I probably won’t be able to make it down to report—other stuff happening up here—but I’ll see if it’s possible.
Rusty, I don’t put much stock in social media Likes (see also Trump, Bosworth). However, out-of-state doesn’t automatically mean bought. It could just as easily mean lots of friends in a nationwide network, which makes sense given her father’s nationwide fame, her time at Stanford, and the attention she’s already received from national groups.
But in-kind—yeah, gotta report.
Leslie makes the big point: there’s no need for this choice to be either-or. As a Democrat, the next Attorney General will have a chance to clean house and hire lots of good reform-minded lawyers. There’s room for Randy and Tatewin both to work in Pierre.
I like the idea of both. I’ll bet the thought of either terrifies the SDGOP because they’re hiding sooooo much dirt.
I agree that Ms. Means “Likes” could easily be genuine non-SD for all the reasons Cory mentioned plus powwows. I believe she was quite active on the powwow trail and would have become acquainted with many people thst way too.
On Like geography, compare Al Novstrup and me. His political FB has 223 Likes and zero content since September 2017. Mine has 689 Likes. I don’t see the link that let’s me see his Likers or mine, but I can guarantee that a good chunk of my superior Like numbers come from the connections I’ve made beyond Aberdeen through family, friends, blogging, judging, and other activities. Who knows—maybe Al’s out-of-district percentage of Likers is the same as mine (Sioux Falls friends and employees, industry lobbyists, etc.). But I can tell you that my higher Like count and out-of-district percentage have nothing to do with buying Likes and everything to do with making connections with more people who happen to spend more time online.
Yes, Debbo, both. That prospect of putting both attorneys to work for our state should be a key part of our conversations. We’re going to pick one to campaign this year and run the office for the next four, but the other should stand ready to serve at the state level as well.