Primaries

Terry Woster in the Argus Leader reports that a legislative panel has endorsed having an early presidential primary in South Dakota.  Excerpt:

An early presidential primary would bring national candidates and exposure to South Dakota and give the state a chance to present its unique issues to potential White House occupants, a Sioux Falls lawmaker says.

Republican Rep. Shantel Krebs persuaded the House State Affairs Committee to endorse her bill to return to an early presidential vote in the state. The panel voted 13-0 to send the measure to the House floor for debate.

A companion bill, appropriating $500,000 to pay the costs of the separate primary, was sent to the Appropriations Committee.

Krebs noted that South Dakota had an early primary in 1988, 1992 and 1996. That drew many presidential candidates and gave state residents a chance to talk with them about issues, she said.

“They need to know what kind of issues we’re facing in South Dakota,’’ she said.
Legislators after 1996 repealed the early primary, questioning the cost-benefit ratio, since the candidates tended to go only to the largest cities and fewer candidates seemed to be targeting the state.

Without that early draw, though, “the presidential campaigns totally ignore South Dakota,’’ Republican Sen. David Knudson of Sioux Falls said.

This kind of exposure would be good for South Dakota as candidates would hear what issues face our state.  Unfortunately, that also means we have to deal with the issue of frontloading.