Tom Cool and Alexandra Frederick Want to Lead SD Dems

Tom Cool and Alexandra Frederick didn’t win enough votes to become State Auditor and Secretary of State in the 2018 election. But they won sufficient respect from each other to run together for South Dakota Democratic Party leadership:

Cool, who also presides over DFP sponsor Sioux Falls Democratic Forum, sends this summary of why he’d like to run the state party with Frederick at his wing:

OUR GOALS:

• Develop and fund a marketing/branding campaign positively asserting the aims of SOUTH DAKOTA Democrats using social and traditional media.
• Work closely with county parties and district chairs to recruit active leadership – supporting the old hands while also bringing in new leaders, new ideas and new energy.
• Begin planning NOW for a grassroots effort to Get Out the Vote in 2020 aimed at Democrats and supportive Independents.
• Initiate outreach to various groups around the state to encourage greater diversity and awareness within the party and promote our goals outside the party.
• Streamline meetings by fast-tracking written reports and allowing more time for organized listening sessions. Set central committee meetings at a central location.
• Schedule quarterly regional meetings to allow for more discussion in smaller groups and to develop strategies based on the needs of each region.

TOM COOL BACKGROUND:

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: 2018 Candidate for SD Auditor; Past Candidate for SD Senate in District 11; State Committee Man for Minnehaha County; Chair for Legislative District 11; Chaired the SDDP Constitutional Revision Committee; President of Democratic Forum of Sioux Falls.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Executive Director of the Council on College Admissions in SD, a statewide organization developing programs and publications for post-high school planning by students and encompassing more than 100postsecondary institutions and nearly 200 high schools. PAST: Executive Director of the SD Counseling Association; Administrator for the Foundation for the Arts in SD; newspaper reporter in Richmond Indiana; USD Graduate with a degree in communications.

PERSONAL: Graduate of Platte High School; Married to Sharon, retired professor at the University of Sioux Falls; three sons and six grandsons.

ALEXANDRA FREDERICK BACKGROUND:

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Ran tribal campaigns for Tribal council positions; 2018 candidate for South Dakota Secretary of State

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Worked for Rosebud Sioux Tribe land office as the Geographic Information System Specialist and built Rosebuds’ GIS database. Manager of family ranch, built the business “Rez Raised” which is working on grassfed, organic beef. Coordinator of youth STEM program and Independent Contractor for Indigenous Non-Profits. Work with Native Organisers Alliance. Multimedia artist with work currently in the traveling exhibit “We Are a Horse Nation”.

PERSONAL: Daughter of Monica and Terry, Sister to Toni and Gusti, raised near Wanblee, SD on the Pine Ridge reservation. Married to Wayne and mother to Summer and Cedar.

The Cool/Frederick ticket offers an interesting pairing of old guard and new… although I invite my readers to debate how much Cool’s “old” overlaps with “establishment.”

According to South DaCola’s reporting, we’re up to four declared candidates for South Dakota Democratic Party chair, with a fifth quietly waiting to declare. As South DaCola notes, the party constitution does not lay out exactly what sort of balloting process is to be followed with five nominees. Article 6 Section 4 requires that “votes for the state party officers shall be weighted” by each voter’s county’s turnout for Billie Sutton in the 2018 gubernatorial election. Article 12 Section 2 directs, “Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern the proceedings of all areas in which there is no provision governing this constitution.” The worthy Robert prescribes, “Elections are decided by majority vote unless your bylaws provide differently.” Thus, when Democrats gather in Oacoma on March 23, Tom or Ann or John or Paula or someone else will have to win more than 50% of however many weighted votes are mustered that Saturday. If no one wins on first ballot, the rules indicate Democrats must keep voting until they can settle on someone worth more than half of their votes.

Chair candidates thus need to come to Oacoma not only with votes in their pockets but a backup plan to draw over each potential bottom vote-getter’s endorsement. That process sounds like a good first test of a candidate’s ability to organize and win an election… certainly a better test than picking as chair a candidate who gets 25% by winning Minnehaha and two other small counties on the first ballot.