Could Rounds Defeat Noem in a Republican Primary in 2012?

Now I know that this is a long shot that M. Rounds would primary Representative Noem for the Republican nomination House of Representatives in 2012, but lets play the idea out.

Noem is having a hard time convincing the conservative base of South Dakota Republicans that she is doing the  things that she promised them. Her voting record mirrors more of the mainstream Republican Party than her promises, which could make her weak against a well funded Democratic candidate. With the Argus Leader  showing skepticism to her dust regulation, Noem looks like to be in a weaken state policy wise.  This would be a time to put a more party friendly candidate in instead of Noem.

If M. Rounds would primary Noem, we would see and epic battle that would be interesting. This battle would be against the established Republican  against the one term newcomer( I know Kristi has been in the State House, but this is a reference is to statewide office.) who has not kept her promises.

For Rounds this would be a great time for him to enter because of his disdain towards the Corps of Engineers. For example if he would beat Noem, he would have an easier time facing a Varliek or Barth. Unlike Noem who will probably have a close race. If Rounds would win and the Republicans kept their majority, he could then be placed on a committee that did over site of the Corps. He could have more power regulate the Corps. With him doing something in 2012 would make the possible 2014 Republican  primary for Senate easier. Rumors in Republican circles see this coming, so why not test Noem in 2012 with petition of candidacy?

Warming up the Keyboard

Well, it has been a couple of months since post has been typed on this blog, and with fall approaching it is time to start working hard on the blog. I missed some fun stories; Kristi's lack of summer town halls (the free type), the receding of the Missouri River, redistricting of the political districts of the state to look more of the same, and TransCanada oil pipeline.

As a journalist/scholar I have been really lazy. We will see if we can change that. Game on!

Representative Noem has a Challenger for 2012 Three Months into Her First Term

A couple days ago Minnehaha County Commissioner Jeff Barth announced that he is considering a run against Representative Kristi Noem for South Dakota's lone Congressional Seat.  This announcement came on Monday and  was aired on KOTA 1380am. More information came on Tuesday in a Johnathan Ellis article in the Argus Leader. From the Ellis article we learn that Barth has not announced official candidacy, but has started the process for a possible run. This includes talking to Democratic party members in Washington D.C. and in South Dakota. Ben Nesselhuf, South Dakota Democratic Party Chairman, said that he is not discouraging anyone from looking at the possibility of running against Representative Noem. 

Barth stated  in the Argus article was that he would pull his name out of contention if former Rep. Herseth-Sandlin decides to run. Herseth-Sandlin at a speech at South Dakota State University this week did not rule out a possible run in 2012. The idea of Herseth-Sandlin running for her old seat would make an interesting rematch in 2012.

Now if Herseth-Sandlin decides to run in 2012 it is highly possible that she will not have a primary for the nomination, unless there is a fringe candidate. The logic behind this argument is that in 2010 when Rapid City Doctor Kevin Weiland did not primary Herseth-Sandlin after Weiland said he would after her vote on current Health Care Law. He received 3834 petition signatures to put his name on the ballot, but then decided not to run against Herseth-Sandlin. That move shows that Weiland would probably not primary Herseth-Sandlin in 2012 if she runs. With Barth saying that he will not primary Herseth-Sandlin, if she runs again, shows that if Herseth-Sandlin really wanted to challenge Rep. Noem it would be possible.

Now if Herseth-Sandlin decides not to run, the landscape in the South Dakota Democratic Congressional primary could be rather interesting. Now we know that Jeff Barth is hypothetically running for the Democratic nomination to challenge Rep. Noem, but will someone primary Barth? Will the Weiland Wildcats comeback again to convince Dr. Weiland to run for the congressional seat again? Could we see an East vs. West primary with Barth vs. Weiland  for the Democratic nomination? It will take more time, but one thing we do know is that Noem will not be running unopposed 2012. More to come with this story.