Three people want to be South Dakota’s next governor, and they meet Thursday night in a statewide broadcast to share their visions with voters. Candidates meet on SDPB TV for a gubernatorial debate guided by questions from people across the state. The three are likely to focus their answers on the issues they see as most important for South Dakota citizens.
Democrat Susan Wismer, who’s a state representative, says she should be the state’s next governor. Independent candidate Mike Myers wants that job, too. Current Governor Republican Dennis Daugaard says South Dakota voters should elect him to a second term as the state’s leader.
Daugaard says South Dakota has seen economic development success during his time in office with new businesses opening in the state and existing companies expanding operations. He says the state’s low unemployment is both a challenge – and an opportunity – for South Dakota.
"The pool of job-seekers is small, and those job-seekers don’t have the skill sets that employers often may need, so we need to do a better job of helping our young people seek academic pathways that lead to those jobs that are offered by employers," Daugaard says. "Not that we tell them what their dreams should be; young people should follow their dreams. But we want them to follow not while they’re sleepwalking but with their eyes open."
Daugaard and his competitors all say they support education and the agricultural industry.
Independent candidate Mike Myers says his biggest priority is improving access to health care in the state. He wants to establish a program that’s South Dakota-based to control the delivery of health care. He also plans to expand Medicaid, but he wants to ask for a waiver to encourage long-term care efforts instead of expensive treatment near the end of life.
Democrat Susan Wismer agrees accepting Medicaid expansion can improve health care for thousands of South Dakotans. She says the state can capture federal dollars administration has turned down. Wismer says she intends to change the tone of the governor’s office.
"State government is making sure that Pierre is okay, but they’re not paying due attention to giving our local communities the tools that they need to handle the responsibilities that the state is giving to them – whether we’re talking about our nearly-bankrupt nursing homes or our starving schools or our counties struggling to find ways to fund their local roads and bridges repair," Wismer says.
Amid talks of education and health care, ethanol and balanced budgets, another topic filters into gubernatorial discussions: how the state handles the federal EB-5 program. People from foreign countries can invest $500,000 in approved American projects as a way to fast-track their way to green cards. The program helped the state establish companies that provide South Dakotans jobs. It’s also drawing controversy, after a former cabinet secretary died by suicide and legal papers show a former South Dakota employee signed a state contract with his own private company. Independent Mike Myers says he wants a thorough investigation.
"When I am governor, one of the first things I’m going to do is appoint a special independent prosecutor, probably an elderly woman or gentlemen out of state insulated from politics, to issue subpoenas and to hopefully have full access to what is really a very interesting concern," Myers says.
Myers and Democrat Susan Wismer both say, as governor, they’d do more to probe the administration of EB-5 in South Dakota. This week, an arbiter in California cleared state government of liability in a lawsuit related to EB-5 and its leader in South Dakota, Joop Bollen. Wismer says Bollen’s private company made money that should have gone into state accounts.
"The main point still is that Joop Bollen signed a contract with himself assigning to his own solely-owned company the rights to conduct the EB-5 program and to collect those fees," Wismer says. "He was not authorized to sign that contract, at least that’s what the administrations have told us, and nevertheless the administration has allowed him to keep the profits from conducting that program – and those profits could very well exceed $100 million."
Wismer says the state should try to recapture that money, because she says the original contract violated state law.
When EB-5 was a primary part of South Dakota’s economic development strategy, current governor Republican Dennis Daugaard was lieutenant governor. He repeatedly states he has revealed all he knows about the program and its players. Daugaard says he’s ordered audits into state departments to supplement criminal investigations from a Republican State Attorney General and a Democratic US Attorney.
"I’m unaware that there was any target to the US Attorney’s investigation beyond Richard Benda. I’m confident that no one in my office has been the target or is the target of any investigation – nor should they be, so I don’t believe there’s anything further that needs to be done," Daugaard says. "I think we have systems in place to prosecute criminal activity, and both of those systems have been activated. And if there was an indictable offense, I’m sure an indictment would be forthcoming."
Daugaard says he hasn’t leaned on EB-5 for economic development during his term, and he doesn’t plan to emphasize the immigrant visa program. He says the state continues to support existing businesses established with EB-5, but his administration won’t solicit additional projects if he’s elected to a second term.
All three candidates for governor of South Dakota have their own long lists of priorities for the people who live and work in the state, and each one says he or she is the most capable person for the job.
Republican Governor Dennis Daugaard, Democrat Susan Wismer and Independent Mike Myers debate live on South Dakota Public Broadcasting Thursday night. Tune in to SDPB TV at 8 p.m. central/7 p.m. mountain for an hour-long event with all three candidates.
The election happens November 4th.