Chairman's Message
June 8, 2010
Today is obviously a big day for South Dakota! I don't know about you, but for me Election Day is one of the most exciting days of the year. As we go to the polls today to nominate our candidates for statewide office, I wanted to share some thoughts with you about this election.
First, I want to personally thank all of our candidates for stepping up to run this year. Our candidates have traveled tens of thousands of miles getting to know South Dakota voters. Most South Dakotans have had a chance to speak with each one of them. That's one of the great things about living in South Dakota -- if you choose to do so, you really can meet and even get to know our candidates and elected officials. So a big THANK YOU goes out to Dennis Daugaard, Gordon Howie, Dave Knudson, Ken Knuppe, and Scott Munsterman for running for Governor. I appreciate the work that all these gentlemen have done, the principles they stand for, and the ideas they've brought to this campaign. Next, THANK YOU to Blake Curd, Chris Nelson, and Kristi Noem for stepping up to run for Congress against our entrenched and ineffective Congresswoman. I truly believe that one of them will be our next member of Congress from South Dakota.
Elections are about differences and many of those differences won't go away tonight or tomorrow. We have been blessed this year with a remarkable slate of candidates. Tonight we will choose amongst them. Tomorrow we will unite behind our winning nominees. While our candidates differ in backgrounds, experiences, and solutions to our problems, they stand in stark contrast to Scott Heidepriem, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and their Democrat pals Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi. There's nothing the Dems would like more than to have our party splinter and have some of our people jump to their party. So I ask that you join me tomorrow in uniting behind our candidates and preparing for November's election.
As I watched the news last night, a reporter interviewed one of the county auditors who said she expected low voter turnout. Her reason? The Democrats don't have anything to vote on! Short of a few legislative or local races, the Dems are staying home today. So what's the point? Republicans are fortunate to have fielded more candidates on a statewide and local level once again this year. Republican voter enthusiasm is higher than I've seen it in years. Our Democrat friends... they have no statewide primaries and no opponent for John Thune. It's tough to be considered a credible party when you fail to fill seats and have no competition within your own party. I suppose our enthusiasm wouldn't be very high either if we had to defend the record of Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi.
My friend, tonight we will learn who will be the next Governor of South Dakota, and who will send Stephanie Herseth Sandlin home. Unfortunately we'll have to wait until November to find out which home she'll choose - my guess is that it won't be in South Dakota.
Thank you for all you do for your South Dakota Republican Party.
Sincerely,
Bob Gray, Chairman
South Dakota Republican Party