Interviews for this story are from SDPB's daily public-affairs show, In the Moment, hosted by Lori Walsh.
Two Democratic candidates that are running for statewide office are hoping to get elected in uphill races in November.
However, their goal is two-fold. They hope to reorganize their party, which hasn’t fielded a successful statewide candidate since 2010.
Aberdeen resident Brian Bengs is running for U.S. Senate against the number two Republican in the chamber. Bengs is hoping to unseat John Thune, who is the likely winner in Tuesday’s Republican primary election.
Bengs, a former Air Force lawyer, also has another mission.
Bengs says he hopes to help reorganize Democratic county parties across South Dakota. He says one-party rule is bad for the state.
“It engenders corruption and it gives a free pass for people to do some things that are shady that wouldn’t fly in a situation where there was a competitive environment. If, for nothing else, the good of the state of South Dakota requires a competitive Democratic Party to offset the supermajority status of the Republican Party.”
Democrats make up nearly 26 percent of registered voters in the state. Republicans make up nearly 50 percent.
Another Democrat hopes to overcome those numbers with a competitive race this fall.
Jamie Smith is running for governor on the Democratic side. He will face the winner of the primary election between Governor Kristi Noem and former Speaker of the House Steve Haugaard. Smith says the South Dakota electorate is more moderate than those candidates reflect.
“South Dakota is a much more purple state than our legislature and our current governor show. We just don’t reflect that very well within our elected leaders. But the people of South Dakota are much more in the middle.”
Early voting is underway for the primary election, which is Tuesday. The general election is in November.
