A South Dakota Moderate

Dave Kranz begins the speculation for the upcoming 2008 and 2010 elections in a piece in this mornings Argus Leader.
Much of Kranz’ speculation in the article revolves around the Governor’s chair and includes possible candidates and situations including the idea that Mike Rounds might run against Tim Johnson in 2008. That idea has been floating [...]

As I mentioned in my post this morning I am planning on doing some limited live blogging this evening once the election results start coming in. I am mainly going to concentrate on several of the ballot initiatives and the state wide seats including the Billion-Rounds race and the Herseth-Whalen contest.
The main ballot initiatives I [...]

With only 8 days remaining before the election, a Mason-Dixon poll sponsored by the Argus Leader of 800 likely South Dakota voters shows Governor Mike Rounds with a 22 point lead over challenger Jack Billion.
The incumbent Republican would win 57-35 with 8 percent undecided if the results of the Nov. 7 election mirror the outcome [...]

In a pledge that I would almost be willing to bet my own salary that Governor Rounds doesn’t match, Jack Billion has vowed that he would cut his salary to 51st among the other governors in the country until the teachers salaries in South Dakota rise above 51st in the nation.
“Real leadership starts at the [...]

Jack Billion’s speech from the Meet the Candidates event in Brandon earlier this week

Jack talks about education, the economy, and healthcare.
And Jack’s first campaign ad

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In a move that will probably surprise no one given the history between South Dakota’s largest newspaper and Governor Mike Rounds, the Argus Leader is officially endorsing Jack Billion for governor.
Their take on Governor Rounds:
Gov. Mike Rounds’ engaging smile and personal warmth hide arrogance and secrecy and a lack of understanding, or lack of willingness [...]

One of the big issues in this years governors race has to do with the employment picture in South Dakota. A story in today’s Argus documents the latest findings released by the federal government that at first glance seems to back up Governor Rounds’ claim of employment prosperity in the state.
Highlights include a drop in [...]

[poll=8]
This is the final poll for the Governors race. The previous polls here and over at the now defunct South Dakota Politics and Elections site have ended with Jack Billion in the lead. The September very unscientific poll just concluded was no exception and had Jack Billion beating Governor Rounds 62 percent to 32 percent.

[...]

Democratic challenger for governor Jack Billion outlined his plan for heath care in South Dakota during a get together in Yankton (subscription) Friday.
“We want to establish a basic health care policy that can be sold by insurers around the state of South Dakota,” Billion said. “It’s not going to be a fancy policy, but it [...]

It will be a light posting week ahead as I have trips to Pierre, Rapid City and then on to Minneapolis for a day. I hope to post a few items in between trips down I90.
I did want to touch on an interesting item I saw posted on Todd Epp’s blog this morning. It seems [...]

That is the $64,000 question that keeps popping up. Dave Kranz from Governor Rounds’ favorite newspaper has an article from a few days back discussing the beginning of campaign season. Eventually Kranz gets around to pulling out his crystal ball and looks towards 2008 and talks about the possibility of Rounds running against Tim Johnson [...]

[poll=7]
Now that Labor Day weekend is upon us and election silly season is ready to hit full swing, I will be continuing the monthly South Dakota Governor’s race poll that was being run over at the now defunct South Dakota Politics and Elections site.
At issue this month is whether Governor Rounds’ decision at the last [...]