Going for governor

PIERRE — For the first time since 2002, South Dakotans face open contests in both major parties for the governor’s office.

A half-dozen contenders have lined up for the chance to run the state.

The primary election isn’t until June, but four Republicans and two Democrats have announced intentions to try to succeed Gov. Mike Rounds, and the campaigning has begun.

Candidates in both parties have already had events in the Pierre area, and four will attend a forum focusing on K-12 education at 6:30 tonight at the Ramkota.

Here’s what voters should know about the election process and the candidates running.

The process

Both Democrats and Republicans will have primary elections on June 8. Voters then will choose candidates for governor, as well as U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, state legislators, county officials and delegates to party conventions.

The Republican primary is a closed primary — open only to registered Republicans. The Democratic primary is, for the first time, open to registered independents as well as Democrats.

Voters must register by May 24 to vote in the June 8 primary.

Whichever candidate gets the most votes in each primary will become that party’s nominee — unless no candidate receives at least 35 percent of the vote. Then a runoff election between the top two candidates will occur June 29.

Nominees for lieutenant governor and other state constitutional offices are made at the state party conventions later in June.

The Democrats

Two candidates are seeking the Democratic nomination for governor — and it’s not the first time they’ve faced off.

State Sen. Scott Heidepriem, D-Sioux Falls, and former state Rep. Ron Volesky of Huron were both candidates for Congress in 1988 — in the Republican primary. Heidepriem came in second and Volesky fourth. Both men switched parties over the subsequent two decades.

Heidepriem has served five terms in the Legislature and is currently the Senate minority leader. He said he wants to govern from the center and said his most important priority is balancing the budget through cuts.

“We’ve had a structural deficit for six of the last seven years,” Heidepriem said. “It seems to me that we are not running state government as efficiently as we should.”

Heidepriem said he is opposed to raising taxes and plans to unveil specific proposals to cut millions of dollars from state government in coming weeks.

Volesky has served eight terms in the legislature, ending in 2006. He also ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2002 and attorney general in 2002 and 2006. Volesky said he’s going to make a major issue out of tax reform.

“I think we have a very regressive and unfair tax system in the state of South Dakota,” Volesky said. “It’s basically a sales tax as opposed to a person’s ability to pay with regards to their income.”

Volesky is proposing ending the state sales tax on food, clothing and utilities and putting in place a corporate income tax for businesses above a certain size.

The Republicans

Four Republicans have declared candidacies for governor from very different backgrounds: Lt. Gov. Dennis Daugaard, Sen. Dave Knudson, R-Sioux Falls, rancher Ken Knuppe and former Brookings Mayor Scott Munsterman.

Daugaard has served as lieutenant governor since 2002. He also served three terms in the Legislature and has been an executive with the Children’s Home Society nonprofit since 1990.

Daugaard said he wants to keep taxes low and promote business investment in South Dakota. He positions himself as having the right experience and temperament for the job.

“I’ve got knowledge of state government, so I can hit the ground running. I don’t have to learn on the job,” Daugaard said when he announced his candidacy Oct. 5. “The second thing I have is executive experience. I know what it’s like to balance a budget.”

Knudson is completing his fourth term in the Legislature and his second term as Senate majority leader. A business lawyer and former chief of staff for Gov. Bill Janklow, Knudson said he has the best experience to bring growth to South Dakota.

“A real question is who can execute and who can actually deliver policies and economic development,” Knudson said. “I think my 34 years as a business lawyer has equipped me to be very solution-oriented and I believe that what we need now is a much more active leadership at the gubernatorial level than what we’ve had.”

Knuppe is a rancher in New Underwood who was president of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association from 2003 to 2005. Knuppe said he wants to keep government simple and accessible, minimize regulations and restrictions on small businesses, and impose across-the-board cuts to balance the budget.

“I want to remind people that we are the government,” Knuppe said. “I want to be very open with the government and help people to try to understand how our government works — and let them know that you don’t have to be a big rich guy to come in and offer suggestions.”

Munsterman, a chiropractor who served as mayor of Brookings for six years, said he wants to reform state government to focus on local communities. Munsterman said his experience as mayor best qualifies him to handle the state’s budget deficit.

“Our state government is in the same shoes that the city of Brookings was in back in 2000,” Munsterman said. “We’ve had structural deficits for the last six years on the state level. I’m the best-prepared and best-experienced to bring that to a close.”