Deal with Democrats backfires in second run at overhauling GOP nomination process

Debate over moving party elections to primaries bleeds into second day at South Dakota Capitol

(Austin Goss/The Dakota Scout)

PIERRE — A contingent of House Republicans has thwarted another intra-party attempt to “blow up” the South Dakota GOP’s convention process.

Political sausage making was on full display this week in the South Dakota State House as lawmakers weighed whether to overhaul how political parties here select nominees for statewide offices.

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But when the dust settled on what amounted to two days of debate on House Bill 1198, the status quo prevailed.

It was Sioux Falls Rep. Tyler Tordsen’s second run at changing South Dakota’s partisan nomination process, which right now is done through party conventions. His proposal called for moving the selection of candidates for attorney general and secretary of state to a primary election, which would allow all registered party members to choose their preferred candidates rather than leaving it to party delegates.

Tordsen’s first run at making those changes — a proposed constitutional amendment to be submitted to voters that would have put all statewide elected offices on the primary ballot — faced major opposition from within his party and from across the aisle. But after failing to get support, the freshman legislator went back to the drawing board and began heavily negotiating with the opposition.

But his motivations haven’t changed: allow more voters to have a say in who appears on general election ballots.

“Think about how many of our fellow South Dakotans go to the polls and get discouraged to see their ballots limited?” Tordsen said during floor debate on the measure. “Think what you want about this issue, but I think this debate is a worthy one to have.”

And indeed, a debate was had.