Republicans and Democrats are picking candidates for Public Utility Commissioner, setting up a race for November.
Both candidates were selected at party conventions held over the weekend.
Both major political parties in South Dakota held virtual party conventions over the weekend. Each held elections to pick national committeemen and committeewomen. Both parties also considered changes to party platforms.
Candidates for Public Utility Commissioner are the highest profile pick to come out of the conventions.
Republican incumbent Gary Hanson has served on the public utility commission since 2002. The former mayor of Sioux Falls has served as chairman of the South Dakota Underground Pipeline Task Force, as well as on task forces on wind development and mining in the Black Hills.
Hanson says it’s important to have people in the position who are knowledgeable about utilities.
“We rule on average 170 dockets a year,” Hanson says. “Some of those are dozens of pages, or a dozen pages, and some are thousands and thousands of pages. And so, about 97 percent of what we do is reading. That’s very technical in many respects."
Hanson’s democratic challenger is Remi Bald Eagle, the Intergovernmental Affairs Coordinator for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.
Bald Eagle is Mnicoujou Lakota and says he wants to encourage more public participation with the commission.
“Everything from our utility rates in the urban areas, to what’s happening in regards to our agricultural industry,” Bald Eagle says. “I’d like to try to be a voice that represents the great diversity in this state.”
Public Utility Commissioners are elected to six-year terms, with staggered elections.
