Democrats take small step forward in Pierre

BYLINE: Terry Woster twoster@midco.net

PIERRE - If unofficial returns from Tuesday's election hold up, South Dakota Democrats will have moved from a 25-10 disadvantage in the Senate to only down 20-15.

The Senate gains are important to Democrats because they erase the two-thirds majority the Republicans have held. That means Democrats' help will be needed if the Senate wishes to pass special spending bills, emergency laws or other legislation that requires more than a simple majority.

It's a bargaining chip the minority party has lacked for years.

"The election results show that people want to move away from the divisive social politics of recent years and toward talk of issues that really affect people," said Donald Carr, Democratic Party communications director.

The real test of the minority party will be holding those seats, says an Augustana College professor.

"I think there's room for them to trim down the margin just a little," Brent Lerseth said Wednesday. "Given that most of the state is fairly Republican, though, it's difficult to get to the point where they actually became the majority party. I'd not be surprised to see (in 2008) a switch back to Republican for a few seats."

Pending recounts of a couple of close races, Republicans should enter the 2007 session with that 20-15 edge in the Senate and a 50-20 margin in the House. Democrats gained one House seat.

State Republican Chairman Randy Frederick said Wednesday that recounts would be requested in two Senate districts. In Sioux Falls, Democrat Sandy Jerstad beat Republican Sen. Bill Earley by 18 votes. In Aberdeen, Democrat Alan Hoerth beat Republican Isaac Latterell by 32 votes.

"This is more of a speed bump," Frederick said of the Senate changes. "For the handful of seats the Democrats won in the Senate, we will begin candidate recruitment immediately."

He also said his party held almost firm in the House, Republican Gov. Mike Rounds won a near landslide re-election and Democrats lost their only incumbent constitutional office, School and Public Lands.

"They had a lot more failures than successes," he said of Democrats' outcomes Tuesday.

Democrats note that Steve Kolbeck, a Brandon Democrat, was elected to the Public Utilities Commission.

On the legislative front, one of the Rapid City races - Democrat Tom Katus winning over Republican Elli Schwiesow - was framed as a debate over abortion.

Frederick sees the Katus win as an aberration.

"There are 3,000 more registered Republicans in District 32, and next time around, Mr. Katus is going to have a tough time holding the seat," he said.

The abortion factor

Abortion played in some of the Sioux Falls races as well, with Democrats Scott Heidepriem and Jerstad winning against incumbents who'd voted for an abortion ban. The issue seemed not to be decisive in District 11, though, where Republican Sen. Jason Gant, who voted for the ban, handily won over Rebekah Cradduck, a former Republican legislator who said she changed her party registration and ran again because of the GOP focus on abortion and other social issues.

While Democrats say the focus is on adding to their current strength, they'll be hard-pressed to build a lot, Lerseth says. A minority party that makes sudden gains often struggles to hold them because those tend to be at-risk districts in normal years, he said.

The referred abortion law "is at least part of the reason" for the Democrats' gains, Lerseth said. Without that issue next time, the party will need some package or issue to rally around, he said.

"If they could find some basic issue and really push for that, it might solidify a position," Lerseth said.

He expects another version of the abortion ban, with rape and incest exceptions and perhaps an exception for the health of the woman, to be introduced in one of the next two sessions. He also anticipates an intense debate over the death penalty next year.

Those kinds of issues don't break entirely on party lines, and they can become so emotional that they suck the reasoned deliberation from the rest of a legislative session, Lerseth said.

"It's tough to position yourself on other things when there are those kinds of issues," he said.

Democratic legislators can be expected to push the Common Ground package, an 11-point program endorsed by all of the party candidates during the campaign. The package deals with school funding, economic development, renewable fuels and other issues.

Frederick said Republican legislators will work with Rounds to write and pass legislation that responds to South Dakota's needs.

"And Mike Rounds is tremendously popular, people genuinely like him," Frederick said. "It wouldn't do for the Democrats to become obstructionists in the Senate."

Recounts possible

The tightest race was in Sioux Falls District 12, where political novice Jerstad defeated incumbent Earley. A losing candidate may seek a recount if the margin is within 2 percent of the total vote. A request for a recount may be made after the official canvass of votes scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Earley could not be reached for comment. Jerstad said Wednesday she won't worry about a recount but will focus on preparing for the 2007 session.

"I did everything I possibly could in the campaign," she said. "Education is my first priority for the Legislature. ... I haven't done a lot of anticipating, though, I've been focused on each day of the campaign."

Unofficial returns from the secretary of state, subject to the canvass, showed Democrats gained Senate seats in:

§ District 3. The incumbent, Republican Sen. Duane Sutton lost in the primary. Democrat Hoerth finished 32 votes ahead of Republican Latterell in a battle of newcomers. A recount will be sought.

§ District 5. Democrat Nancy Turbak of Watertown won the seat vacated by Republican Sen. Lee Schoenbeck.

§ District 12. Democrat Jerstad beat Republican Earley. A recount will be sought.

§ District 13. Democrat Heidepriem beat Republican Dick Kelly.

§ District 26. Democratic Sen. Julie Bartling of Burke won this reconfigured district. Incumbent Republican John Koskan of Wood had held the seat. He ran for the Public Utilities Commission.

§ District 28. Democrat Ryan Maher won the seat vacated by Republican Sen. Eric Bogue.

§ District 32. Democrat Katus defeated Republican Schwiesow, who had beaten Republican Sen. Stan Adelstein in the June primary.

The Democrats' surge was offset by two:

§ District 18. Republican Rep. Jean Hunhoff of Yankton won the seat vacated by Democratic Sen. Garry Moore. Moore, who was term-limited, won Hunhoff's former House seat.

§ District 21. Republican Rep. Cooper Garnos of Presho won the reconfigured seat that had been held by Democrat Bartling.