Leading Off
●SD-Gov: Republicans have controlled South Dakota's governor's office in this conservative state since the 1978 elections, the longest gubernatorial winning streak in the country. Still, state Senate Minority Leader Billie Sutton is hoping to break through, and he announced on Wednesday that he would seek the Democratic nomination.
Campaign ActionSutton has a very tough job ahead of him, but he does have an interesting background. Sutton was a well-known rodeo rider in college (in a 2013 profile at the Argus Leader, David Montgomery described him as "arguably the greatest rodeo rider the University of Wyoming had seen"), and he aimed to become a professional. However, just before graduation, Sutton was paralyzed after the horse he was riding threw him into a wall. Sutton instead became an investment banker, and while he remains in a wheelchair, he still is able to ride horses.
Sutton, a self-described "conservative Democrat," also does have one other noteworthy distinction. During the 2010 GOP wave, Sutton managed to win a conservative state Senate seat, and he's continued to hold it. (Sutton's grandfather also represented south central South Dakota in the legislature in the 1970s.) Sutton's seat backed Romney 66-33, and it's very likely that Trump did even better. However, Sutton won re-election 59.5-40.5 in 2012, and he had no GOP opposition in 2014 or 2016. Winning statewide is a far tougher proposition than winning one state Senate seat, but Sutton at least may be able to run a viable campaign if conditions are finally right for a Democratic win.
However, Sutton's task certainly won't be easy. Two well-known Republicans, Rep. Kristi Noem and Attorney General Marty Jackley, are competing here. Sioux Falls Mayor Mike Huether recently left the Democratic Party to become an independent, and he's been flirting with a run here. Team Blue has very little room for error, and if Huether gets in and vacuums up too many Democratic votes, Republicans won't have much to worry about next year.
