South Dakota Special Election

[NHPolitico]

Republicans nominated state Sen. Larry Diedrich of Elkton today to run in the June 1 special election for South Dakota's seat in the House of Representatives.


Diedrich won the nomination on fourth ballot after two of the three Minnehaha County delegates pledged to him their support. That decision gave him enough votes to win and prompted the withdrawal of Larry Russell of Sioux Falls, a former aid to U.S. Rep. John Thune, who was the last of the seven challengers to step aside.


Diedrich will face Democrat Stephanie Herseth of Brookings in the June special election. The seat was vacated by the resignation of Rep. Bill Janklow, who was convicted last month of second-degree manslaughter in connection with an August traffic accident.


The Republican State Central Committee gathered in Sioux Falls beginning Friday for the two-day nominating process.


Eight candidates originally declared themselves candidates for the seat. But after three ballots only three remained.


Then former state Sen. Barb Everist of Sioux Falls withdrew, freeing the three Minnehaha County delegates who supported her to pick between Russell and Diedrich. Because the process is based on votes cast in the previous gubernatorial election, those three delegates controlled about 18 percent of the vote.


Two of the Minnehaha County representatives backed Diedrich, which put him over the top.


The race between Diedrich and Herseth will determine who serves the remaining seven months of Janklow's term. The general election in November will decide who gets a full two-year term beginning in January.


Diedrich will also be on the ballot in June for the Republican nomination in the general election. It's possible that he will face a primary challenge in that race, meaning he would have to run two campaigns simultaneously. One against Herseth and another against a Republican challenger.


All eight candidates for the Republican nomination pledged before this weekend's gathering not to challenge the winner. But any potential hopefuls have until April to file for the primary.


No other Democrats have expressed interest in the position. Herseth has been a favorite of Democrats since her better-than-expected showing against Janklow in the 2002 election.


Since that defeat she has been working for the South Dakota Farmers Union and teaching part time at South Dakota State University.


Herseth has political roots in the state. Her father, Lars, was a long-time state legislator and Democratic candidate for governor. Her grandfather, Ralph, was governor of the state and her grandmother, Lorna, was secretary of state. She grew up on the family farm near Houghton and graduated from Georgetown Law School.


Diedrich was a candidate for the House job after Thune decided to run for Senate in 2002. But he withdrew when Janklow got in the race.


He is serving his second term in the state Senate and was a member of the state House of Representatives from 1997 to 2000.


Diedrich is a farmer who represents District 4, which includes Deuel, Grant and parts of Brookings and Moody counties.