During the last few months, I haven’t seen much of Republican state Rep. Scyller Borglum, at least not as a U.S. Senate candidate and primary challenger of Sen. Mike Rounds.
Of course, I might not have been looking in the right places. Until recently, I was preoccupied with things like pheasant hunting and getting to know my new cross-country skis. And Borglum has had plenty on her plate representing District 32 in the 2020 state Legislature, which opened on Jan. 14 and closes its main run on March 12, with March 30 reserved for veto consideration.
Serving in one office while running for another is complicated business. So I reached out to Borglum by Facebook message to see how it’s going.
When asked about the Senate campaign against Rounds, who make his reelection bid official this week, Borglum responded: “We are doing FANTASTIC!!”
On whether she’s in good shape to get almost 2,000 valid signatures by the end of March in order to make the June primary ballot, she replied: “Signatures are on their way!”
And when asked about the challenges of running a U.S. Senate campaign while serving in a state legislative session, Borglum said: “My work on legislative issues remains unabated and I’m thrilled to be in Pierre for the session.”
She’d really be thrilled to be in Washington, D.C. next January, as the replacement for Rounds. Odds are that’s not going to happen. She’s up against an experienced, well-known and generally popular incumbent, who has the backing of the GOP establishment and a lot more campaign cash than his challenger.
Rounds made his reelection bid official this week, after delaying an announcement to make certain that his wife, Jean, was continuing her hopeful recovery after successful treatment from a serious form of cancer. He also said she was adamant that he focus on reelection, once her status was confirmed.
Presuming Borglum gets the needed number of valid signatures as she expects and that the she and Rounds face each other as expected in June, I’d expect Rounds to get at least 60 to 70 percent of the GOP primary vote.
But I’ve been wrong before.
And as thrilled as she might be to be in Pierre for the session, Borglum would be even giddier if she could tell me — the day after the primary election — just how wrong I was.
