Primaries

Mitchell Daily Republic:

Our View: Momentum for pro-life forces

The Daily Republic
Published Thursday, June 08, 2006

Two stories emerged during and after Tuesday's primary election.

The first wasn't all that newsy: Turnout was low, as predicted. More than two-thirds of the state's registered Democrats didn't bother to vote - even though it was their party that was selecting Jack Billion as its gubernatorial candidate.

The second story was the triumph of pro-life candidates over their opponents.

The marquee race on this issue was in District 22 in Rapid City where Elli Schwiesow defeated Stan Adelstein in a Republican race that was a rematch of two years ago. Then, Adelstein defeated Schwiesow, vice chairwoman of the state GOP, by 122 votes. It was billed as a one-issue campaign - Schwiesow as the pro-life candidate and Adelstein as pro-choice. But that was before this past legislative session when Adelstein voted against HB1215, which bans most abortions in South Dakota.

Abortion is the issue that has tested the Republican Party, not only in South Dakota, but across the nation. How well the GOP can unite in Rapid City after Tuesday's primary will be indicative of the party's resolve to overcome a divisive issue.

Tuesday's victories for pro-life candidates, including Sen. Julie Bartling, D-Burke, suggest that the state Legislature's support of HB1215 wasn't done in a vacuum and instead was reflective of South Dakota voters. That remains to be seen, of course, when the entire state presumably will vote in November on HB1215, which has been referred pending certification of petitions. However, what Tuesday's vote provided, in our view, was additional momentum for those favoring that measure, as well as the marriage amendment, which also is on the ballot.

Until voters say differently, South Dakota continues to re-affirm it is a pro-life state, and has carved out a leadership position on that issue which other states are emulating.