Among the things we Democrats can argue about at convention just five days from now in Sioux Falls is why our voter registration numbers keep falling to the point that we are now smaller than the independent bloc in nine counties.
According to the latest voter registration data from the Secretary of State, on Primary Day 2018, South Dakota’s electorate was 47.09% Republican, 29.45% Democratic, and 22.90% independent. Voters who wrote Libertarian, Constitution, or some other alternative party designation on their registration forms constituted 0.56% of the electorate.
Since the very black, shameful day of November 8, 2016 (or should we say white pride day?), over 14,300 voters have left South Dakota’s Democratic roster, an 8.39% decline. Republican registrants have also declined since Trump’s Electoral College win, but only by 2,130, down 0.84%. Over the same period, almost 2,900 more voters have registered independent.
Over the last ten years, peak Democratic registration came in July 2009, when we South Dakota Democrats numbered over 206,000. Over nine years, we’ve lost nearly 50,000 voters, over 24%, from that peak.
Republicans peaked last summer, in July 2017, with nearly 255,000 voters. Republican registration declined every month after that through February, then rebounded as the mostly Republican primary approached. Democratic registration has dropped every month since the 2016 general election.
Republicans hold majorities in 33 of South Dakota’s 66 counties. Those hard-red counties are generally smaller counties; the only three with total voter registration over 10,000 are Meade, Lawrence, and Hughes. Democrats make up the majority of voters in only six counties: Oglala Lakota, Todd, Buffalo, Dewey, Ziebach, and Corson—all Indian Country, all but Oglala Lakota with fewer than 5,000 voters.
Democrats outnumber Republicans in just eight other counties: Roberts, Bennett, Day, Clay, Marshall, Moody, Miner, and Charles Mix.
Independents don’t break 30% anywhere. However, they make up more than a quarter of the electorate in six counties: Brookings, Clay, Union, Minnehaha, Pennington, and Lincoln, in which reside nearly 48% of South Dakota’s registered voters. Independents outnumber Democrats in nine counties: Butte, Fall River, Meade, Pennington, Custer, Union, Lawrence, Lincoln, and Brookings.
The Democratic dwindle and the independent increase (especially in the orange counties on the map, where indies are now #2 behind Republicans) probably have a lot to do with why the Democratic nominees for Governor and U.S. House, Billie Sutton and Tim Bjorkman, talk so much about (Sutton) not paying attention to party affiliation or (Bjorkman) outright refusing money from the Democratic Party. But they may also be cranking the vicious cycle, giving voters no reason to adopt or stick with the Democratic Party label.
I think two things are happening: 1) many races are being decided in the primary – the GOP primary to be precise. How many elections were a GOP primary where the winner is unopposed in the general? Democrats switched party affiliation to have a voice/vote. 2) there were very few contested Democrat primaries – so registration was not essential – why register if it is not needed to vote in a uncontested/non-existant primary?
All this does make an interesting thought experiment: if there truly is only one party, does that mean there are NO parties? What happens to the SD GOP if everyone, EVERYONE registers GOP? Every candidate has to run against every other candidate with every voter eligible to vote.
The big difference in claiming party’s now is that if you claim you are a bonafide republican, then you have to also claim party affiliation with the All-Russia People’s Front, the political party of Vladimir Putin. So there ya have it, like peas and carrots.
I agree with O that some folks changed registration to vote in the primaries. I confess I take a bit of satisfaction at being able to vote against Representative Noem twice in an election cycle.
I’ll offer a few other observations.
1. My favorite hobby horse is that self-segregation will continue for the foreseeable future. Republicans move to Republican areas; Democrats move to Democratic areas. The moves are for cultural as well as political reasons, but self-segregation means South Dakota will remain a Republican stronghold for a long time.
2. Some folks, often in hushed tones, drop hints that Dashle and Johnson who were the last two Dems to be successful statewide built their own organizations at the expense of the state party. It’s likely not possible to fix that bit of history if it’s true, but it may be a reason Dems haven’t effectively organized.
3. Republicans have dominated the gubernatorial, attorney general, and secretary of state elections long before the current era of extreme polarization. Those efforts built an in-state organization for in-state offices instead of DC offices.
4. As for the independents, I would be interested to know how many are purists, either Republican populists who don’t think the South Dakota Republican Party is sufficiently Trumpian or Democratic progressives aka Bernie Bros who believe the South Dakota Democratic Party skews too far to the right.
5. If Sutton and Bjorkman are playing fast and loose with party affiliation and not asking for resources, find the best possible candidate for SOS and make that race the focus. Gant created a mess. Krebs didn’t clean it up sufficiently etc. Use a single win to build start building an organization that can pick up the SOS and then another post like auditor, treasurer, or PUC. Back in the day, North Dakota Dems used the state tax commissioner position to launch careers of Byron Dorgan, Kent Conrad, and current Senator Heidi Heitkamp. Granted, that was a while back and the current era may make that task tougher but it beats getting shut out.
This is long enough. Sorry for not be as pithy as I should be
Mighty pithy enough, Mr. Kallis. Pithy enough. I doubt the Dems have the foresight or a candidate sane enough to show the high degree of ability and experience needed to run for one of those offices. Ever since Mr. Healy shot himself in the maw the Dems have abdicated all those big races.
No apologies necessary for lengthy comments. I appreciate the substance.
I suppose if we all registered in the same party, we could shorten the election season by five months. But then what would we talk about at the State Fair?
Oh, and to be clear: only Bjorkman has said he won’t take money from the DNC or the state party. I wonder if that means he will also forsake individual contributions from party leaders.
It is a proven fact that in republican stronghold states, the suicide rate is much higher than in normal states. So, it seems that depression goes along with being republican, even when they have their boy.
What seems really weird about stronghold republicans is what they stand for. In 2006 and in 2008, voters overwhelming rejected banning abortions in South Dakota. Those were republican stronghold voters. So what do these people stand for besides corruption as usual.
In Minnesota auditor is often the post a politician launches to governor or DC from. The current auditor, Democrat Rebecca Otto, ran for governor but trailed Erin Murphy and Tim Walz by quite a distance at the party convention. She has dropped out, though she may run again in a couple years.
“we Democrats can argue about at convention just five days from now in Sioux Falls is why our voter registration numbers keep falling to the point that we are now smaller than the independent bloc”~ Cory
I have already explained this before and you can ignore it all you want but here goes again: Your National party has aligned itself with anti-American, kneeling during the National Anthem, open borders, high taxes, take their guns, using the government against the people (IRS, ATF, CIA, NSA, FBI and is now caught), killing babies, socialist, forced health insurance, everyone is a RACIST, screaming attacks against the rest of America. You are making no friends and losing many more. I know it isn’t something any of you wish to confront but guys, this is it. You have a falling island of leadership in California and the east coast. Your party is like a vine that was cut at the root. It still wraps itself around the tree but it is withering away and dying.
Unless you can figure how to completely remake the party into something that resembles a civil organization you are done.
Of course Tim will take money from individuals. State Party money is contaminated with the DNC (or should be if the DNC actually GAVE them any but Clinton stole it all) individual money is not.
Dems are fleeing across the country, it isn’t a primary thing. Tim and Billie have to publicly go after and distance themselves from Clinton, Schumer, and Pelosi ALONG WITH Trump, Ryan, and McConnell if they want to win. That is something that everyone can agree on unless you are in the 15% of the “loyal party” demographic (which is probably a lot of people here) that don’t care how unpopular some in the party are – they believe it is ALL party members to prop them up, not matter how out of touch or how much money they take, even if it means losing elections. Those are the types of party loyalists I would love to see purged from the Party. IN FACT, I’d love to see the word LOYAL purged from the party. Loyalty isn’t a virtue – it is a vice. It is admission that you don’t have to earn my respect or trust. Loyalty is basically ignorance worship. People deserve better than that. They deserve to be told the truth about what is happening and decide for themselves.
If either of them can come out and hate on Clinton – I will wager anyone they win. And I’ll go to work for them. If they do NOT do that, they will lose. I hope one of them takes me up on it.
What noize through yon window break?
Tis the troll ralphing its guts.
OS, why do your screaming attacks against everyone not result in dwindling registration for your party?
Paul, Bjorkman did take $250 from the SDDP back in November. Does that mean he’s contaminated?
Cory, it is not a “screaming attack”. It is the simple reality of one looking through a rectilinear lens. You are missing the world for staring at a bug. This isn’t you, your lemmings or the state party. It is your national party and the “causes” they have decided to align themselves with. So long as your party publically sides against “normal” civil behaviors you will continue to lose members. It’s just the way it is. People are people and the majority are rational thinking members of what they would like to be a civil society. All this speculation between changing demographics, racism, calling anyone who believes different an idiot is not winning and not bringing you new members or even retaining your present members. . Dems are losing their constituents across the Nation. The only ones telling you different are the media. The blue wave is a pipe dream. It ain’t gonna happen. People like people who behave kindly to other people. Your party has gone on a quest of trashing everyone else to shut them up as opposed to discussing positive views. Look at what your lemmings do to me on this site. I can say the sky is blue and roger, mike and the others will tell you I’m lying and give us a link to a red dawn. It’s stupid. What you should be wondering is why I keep coming back here. I’ll give you my reasons: 1) I like your writing. 2) I dislike wimps that think they can bully me.3) Everyone else has given up and I don’t quit. Now, if you don’t like my opinions you an go ahead and block me but I will keep coming back so long as I am allowed. PS: You would like me as well. I’m not a “bad” guy and I have a unique background that your others commenters can’t even begin to understand.
OldSarge
The last time you made that lame comment, Kal Lis rightfully mocked you.
OS consistently turns the debate to himself and his special awesomeness that, like the Lord’s, is beyond understanding. Boring.
If Democratic numbers are down because we call racists racists, the shame does not lie on us Democrats.
Of course taking $250 months before he decided to run and starting to do research doesn’t “contaminate” him. You are acting like anymore than 1% of the people who vote will even ever heard about it. If he really wanted, he could give it back. Principles is not something I expect a person who has probably been jaded after years of following politicians to have much faith in – but I think with Tim – it is sincere.
You don’t just call racist racist. You call everyone you disagree with a racist. I actually thought you were beyond being so petty. . . If someone thinks someone should come into the country legally: they are racist. One topic after another, racist this racist that everyone is a racist you deem a racist. So deep. . .
See, there goes roger hiding behind someone else’s skirt. . . How brave roger. . .
Here in MN, the Democrat Party is alive and well, Old Sarg, so don’t get too excited just because your small rural forgotten state is all Republican.
Two Democrat Senators – Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith
Democrat Governor – Mark Dayton
5 of our 8 Congressional House Districts are Democrat, so don’t get too excited OS. Move over one state and Dems rule. :)
Oh the irony!
OldSarge claims I hide behind someone else’s skirt, but OldSarge in all his bravery hides behind a keyboard.
https://www.brennancenter.org/press-release/supreme-court-rules-ohios-controversial-system-purging-voters-legal
I wonder if dems are losing registered voters by republican nefarious voting restrictions?
OldScapegoat trying to be a comedian. Priceless.
Certainly has a high opinion of hizownself.
Scotus determined on party line vote, no surprise there, that a person’s right to vote or not vote doesn’t stand up to wingnut’s desires to purge potentially legal Democratic voters.
There are a bunch of other red states itching to adopt the Ohio practice to ensure wingnut victories this Fall.
Legalozed theft of voter’s rights., What will wingnuts conjure up next?
Most of the decisions are made in the primary. If Republicans allow Indies to vote in their primary, the party will lose 30% of its members. People are sick of party affiliations and it’s easy to leave the Dems. It takes a definite decision to not be a meaningful particpant in elections by leaving the Republicans and being forced to cast a vote on an almost completely blank Dem ballot.
Nick gets me wondering: do we win more elections by registering more voters, or do we get more voters to register Democratic by running more candidates who win elections?
QUESTION: Why are are democrats shedding members?
ANSWER: “What You Can Do to Someone Against Their Will Have Changed”~ Bill Clinton
Double answer: Who cares as long as everyone votes Democratic in the general. Tim Bjorkman and Billie Sutton…there ya go, asked and answered
That’s just it jerry. This is why you have no friends. You would greet a rapist who offered you a free dollar over your sister who was raped by the same man. America does not agree with you.
If democrats do not change who they mingle with they will continue to shed members, lose elections and fade into the past.
OS, your comment to Jerry is evidence of a serious moral sickness. Get help please. That is a comment that Cory should definitely delete.
The dems are still here, they just have to register republican so they can vote in their small town and large community elections
There is difficulty in proving the actual number that do this,
But I am one:::: have to switch back and forth……
I can think of a dozen friends that also have to do this, so who knows what the number actually is in SD
Agreed bear, if OS made that comment on Facebook it would be reported as sexual violence and deleted.
OS sounds like a Drumpf base degenerate. He needs the banhammer immediately and permanently. Then he needs intervention and shock therapy along with massive doses of drugs and waterboarding. And a padded cell.
Wingnuts have lowered the bar on civility and decency. How low will OldShavetail go? Deeper than a borehole? Deeper than the Marianna Trench? He’s no Democrat or decent human being, for that matter.
Exactly T, you nailed it. When you vote in a small village community center, your vote is counted before it is dropped in the ballot box in the primary. The only doubt is which one of the potential criminals you voted for. Thanks to poor republican economic planning, smaller villages are getting smaller. Soon there will be just two guys in some of them, so then the general election will get interesting during the count..Numbers of enrolled republicans or democrats or indy’s mean about as much as a cloudy day in South Dakota, the general is where it all counts.
Elections have been held on tuesdays since 1845 or so because of the farmer. Ohio can legally purge all their inactive voters
The system isn’t made or continues to be difficult to vote, snubbing more and more democrats out. Changing districts and numerous
Other factors assist in a “ declining” Democratic Party.
Do something about easability for people to vote and one may c sustainable numbers. Washington has mail in voting and guess what?
High turn out and low voting fraud statistically.
Dennis Rodman is wearing a Trump “Make America Great Again” hat on National TV crying in happiness for helping bring us closer to peace with North Korea. While TRUMP continues to lead and win the losers bite at the heels of history.
“What You Can Do to Someone Against Their Will Have Changed”~ Bill Clinton democrat.
Wow, Dennis Rodman crying..you fellers can keep him, tears and all. Dude was just high.
Rodman will be the new ambassador to North Korea, keeping it on the down low with Kim and hanging at the Burger King. The pipeline from Russian through North Korea and into South Korea is shovel ready, so we are off to see the wizard. Putin’s gas will make him even more billions. Well played puppet trump, tears of a clown and all of that, well played.
“President Trump admitted Thursday to reimbursing his lawyer for a $130,000 payment made on the eve of the 2016 election to porn actress Stormy Daniels as part of a settlement about her alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump.” Bah zing! Another proud moment in Americana land.
Bill Clinton-Democrat and serial womanizer
donald j. trump- Russian agent and serial womanizer
I’m willing to wait and see what happens with this summit. Two days ago he threw a tantrum in Canada and alienated our allies after a 7 decade old relationship.
Will Trump through another tantrum and leave the Singapore summit early like he did in Canada?
I don’t trust Kim Jung Un at all and I trust Trump even less.
Tamer will flip the ND seat to the BIG R, and Jerry hates black people. What a world!
TRUMP truly is Making America Great!
T. Iraq has figured democracy out as well. The ballots from the last election were all destroyed in a massive fire. So the recount will not happen and the fraudulent election will not be challenged. Making Iraq Great Again, trump party style.
Vote on Tuesday so you have to take a day from work…check
Vote on Tuesday with polls that are undermanned…check
Vote on Tuesday and purge voters…Oh hell ya…check and double check
Democracy is leaving us boys and girls. It has always been fickle, but now the corruption is just obvious. We used to be a beacon and now we accuse our neighbor to the North, Canada, of being a terrorist nation so we can impose the fake tariffs. Ag folks are gonna have to carry the burden as they always do. In days of yore, they were called peasants that paid their tithe to the king. Looks like history revisited.
But we can start to do something about it. Vote Democratic! Vote out the Russian corruption and vote in Billie Sutton a good strong Democrat. Vote out the Russian corruption and vote in Tim Bjorkman, another good strong Democrat.
Trump and his lemmings, or cheerleaders, are counting on peace with North Korea to exonerate Trump from all his upcoming corruption and perhaps impeachment trials, it’s not going to work, regardless of what happens with North Korea.
Remember how Nixon tried to busy himself with China while the Watergate scandal heated up? It didn’t work then and it ain’t going to work now.
Agree Jerry
Agree Roger C “ Nixon and Mao” “ the week that changed the world”
“I’m automatically attracted to beautiful [women]—I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything … Grab them by the p####. You can do anything.”
Donald Drumpf and OldSwampy conjoined immoral sickos.
The WH said yesterday Drumpf’s tweet storm after G7 was an attempt to make Drumpf appear tough. Drumpf is a phony, like OS.
Sanctions are lifted on North Korea! Dems may dwindle, but they are not traitors. Putin wins again!
republican heads would have exploded if Obama even suggested such a thing, but here republicans are, selling us out for a hotel for trump.
“”Trump expressed his intention to halt the U.S.-south Korea joint military exercises, which the DPRK side regards as provocation, over a period of good-will dialogue between the DPRK and the U.S., offer security guarantees to the DPRK and lift sanctions against it along with advance in improving the mutual relationship through dialogue and negotiation,” the KCNA reported. http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2018/06/13/0200000000AEN20180613000753315.html?sns=tw
I think it better to be a dwindled patriot than the party of Putin (go red wave), but hey, that is how I roll.
Yeah when Billie Sutton acts like Trump and blocks users on twitter instead of replying with an answer it’s time to dump the democrats
You bet, being blocked on Twitter is reason to extend forty years of corrupt one-party rule in Pierre.
Now we have a full slate of Democratic candidates for the offices in the constitution. Good on your party, and let’s have the votes after next week. My money, for what it is worth, is on Mr. Seiler romping over Mr. Fitzgerald in the elections.
Cory ,
Lol Your lack of historical knowledge or even the ability to check your facts is astounding in this day and age.
Dems actually had a couple of years where they held the House in your time frame :)
Dems need to start looking at what happened to them from when they held both the house and the senate majority. Dems had everything for several years 1970 to 1992 how did you mess that up ?
Dems need to take responsibility and not blame others ,Lol it’s a victim position that indicates that as it can’t possibly be my fault, then there is nothing I need to do to change. People walk away from those who chose to live as victims for 40 years.
People walked away from the Dem party for a reason. Independent voter registration indicates that they are not likely to return anytime soon.
The Sutton / Noem campaign is just like the Trump / Hillary campaign- Do I hold my nose and vote Democrat or do you finally get tired enough to say the short version of the serenity prayer and find a third candidate that is not going to drain my bank account further. I’d say since the Independents will out number the Democrats most likely by all elections after 2018 you all have a big problem other than being a victim. In fact the Dem convention could even be history.
Those facts are a wake up call- Are the Dems intelligent enough to stop whining and do something ?
Debbie, your gratuitous shot at my historical knowledge and fact-checking is misapplied nitpicking that avoids the main point. What burr do you have under your saddle, anyway?
Apparently, you want to nitpick my statement about “forty years of one-party rule.”
O.K. 40 years. 1978 to today. In June 1978, we had an unelected caretaker lame-duck Democratic Governor who’d lost the primary. The Senate and House each had GOP supermajorities. At not one point since have Democrats controlled the South Dakota House. Democrats held a 20–15 majority in the Senate for one term, 1993–1994. Since Janklow, Republicans have held an iron grip on most if not all levers of state government power. That iron grip has fostered complacency and corruption.
The claim that the Sutton/Noem campaign is just like the Trump/Clinton campaign is a false oversimplification. There is no third candidate to whom Sanders/anti-Clinton/anti-Sutton Democrats can turn. Sutton himself offers few of the negatives and none of the personal or political history that Clinton did. Sutton is a better, more charsimatic campaigner than Clinton. Noem is also not a Trumpian choice, not in the ways that matter to the comparison you seem to find worth making. Trump was a noisy outsider; Noem is an insider. The GOP had to struggle to embrace Trump to ride to the top; the GOP already has a track record of backing Noem.
So what is your point, Debbie?
(And quit saying “Lol.” It’s really a juvenile signal of personal mockery that adds nothing informative to the discussion. Plus, you’re probably not really laughing out loud.)
I hope Mr. H is not blaming The Harv from Frankfort for setting this course that South Dakota has sailed for the past 40 years (since June of 1978.) People love The Harv, even if he’s not #4Science and was the Slayer of The Borehole in Spink County.
Of course I am laughing out loud ! It beats mood altering drugs , and moving is not an option for a while.
You are still focused on personalities rather than the message. Politics is not about charisma, if it was Trump could not have beat a rattle snake.
Dems do not have a message for the 90% of South Dakotan’s.Sure they want to expand medicaid and schools and it’s a good moral message, but it also means more taxation.Especially since medicaid payments are set to be reduced by the feds. Economic expansion only benefits the 10% at the expense of the 90% in SD.
Dems should at least try to find a cause that is not going to cost 90% more money-especially with inflation, austerity, wage stagnation, and more layoffs coming down the road.
It’s easy to see why Lavallee would temporarily switch to Democrat- Sutton wants medicaid expansion and Lavallee’s clients would benefit the most