Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin has announced that she will not seek the Senate seat being vacated by Tim Johnson. I think that this is unfortunate. The people of South Dakota deserve a serious campaign from both sides. Herseth-Sandlin is the only Democrat who is currently in a position to offer such a campaign. She could have made it a competitive race.
She would also likely have lost. Mike Rounds is a popular government who has twice won an at large election in South Dakota. Herseth-Sandlin was defeated by a relative new comer in 2010. I imagine that these facts were part of her calculation. Rick Weiland's entry was taken by the Washington Post as evidence that Brendan Johnson will not run. That seems right to me and it probably indicates that the national Democratic Party has little hope for holding onto this seat.
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