I ran across this little tidbit in Stupendous’ article in the AL today about Steve Hildebrand;
When asked if they will work together again or if he sees Huether as a future force in the state Democratic Party, Hildebrand offered a harsh assessment.
“If Mike were to change his ability to let citizens participate, to let longtime friends participate, to let neighborhood organizations participate, he might gather a lot of support, but he has been very much an individual leader who doesn’t really involve anyone else in his decision-making,” said Hildebrand. “He’ll have a hard time getting support from anybody if that’s the kind of person he continues to be.”
Well Steve, I could not have said it better myself. If Huether thinks he is going to run his governor campaign like he has ran Sioux Falls, he might have a rude awakening.
As for Huether’s contention that being mayor of Sioux Falls is his “dream job,” his former campaign manager disputes that characterization and says they had conversations about him running for governor before the mayoral push.
“Mike has wanted to be governor of South Dakota since he was a kid,” says Hildebrand. “It was never about being the mayor of Sioux Falls, it was always about being governor. He came back from San Antonio (where he worked for Citibank) with a big fat file that said, Huether for Governor.”
Steve is 110% correct on this assessment, I have heard stories about the famed 3-Ring Binder. I also was appraised of a story from two leading Democrats (before Huether announced he was running for Mayor) of a little road trip they were on when Huether popped the ‘governor run’ question on them, and they responded by saying he should aim a little lower first and suggested running for the mayor of Sioux Falls. (I still hold this advice against them).
Which brings me to something that has been in my craw for awhile, Huether using city resources to run for governor. He has not formally announced yet so he has been walking a fine line with traveling all over the state ‘talking about Sioux Falls’ malarkey in which he is really campaigning. I could care less if he runs for governor, that is not my issue. My issue is using tax dollars to pay for his traveling expenses in the guise it is ‘city business’.
Mike Huether has had five years to show the citizens of Sioux Falls his leadership style and for the average citizen it is NOT about trust and transparency.
Beware state of South Dakota!
he and his wife and some kid were in having lunch at pepperjacks today. he made sure to stop and tell all the cooks goodbye when he left.
There are so many dirty deals he has orchestrated while mayor, if word hasn’t spread across the state in a governor’s race, don’t worry they will!
He will never have the capacity to cover lie after lie on the state level,as he did to the citizens of Sioux Falls!
“He will never have the capacity to cover lie after lie on the state level,as he did to the citizens of Sioux Falls!”
Notice in the last PC about the EC siding, all the directors had to read scripts so they get their lies straight.
Mike is about Mike, period. Plain and simple. It’s not evident at first. This scares me because there’s not yet a good governor candidate. People will catch one of his infomercials then buy a tennis membership and vote blindly. I’m sure he’s comparing himself to Trump. He’s certainly got the prejudice and crudeness. The state needs a people person, not a corrupt selfish egotistical CEO.
As we record these meetings and their lack of openness we are seeing the mayor and officials read very carefully written scripts. Notice as they read them how their body language shows the real story or lack there of.
We are seeing this more and more. This is why the mayor and city attorney are willing to start a 1st amendment issue they will not win. They will continue to hide everything they can and look for every loophole to slide through to keep us from finding out the full stories.
With the names that I have heard of individuals running for Governor on the Republican side, he has very little chance, if any at all. Plus – he is now considered from SF. That’s a tough road in itself. You could say one of the possible Republican candidates is also from SF, but he is very well-liked and has a pretty positive legacy. Huether will struggle to match most of these candidates.
Karma, I hope you’re right. There must be better than Huether, any party. I’m sure he’ll capture lots of political contributions. If he’ll recognize he must leave permanently with that, then drastic measures can be avoided. Somehow I sense, if not predict, he’ll lose it publicly and end up on 4th floor at McKennon.
The Republicans are going to have a brutal gubernatorial primary in 2018, which will benefit the Democratic nominee.
What if happens though, if Pat O’Brien decides to run in SD as a Democrat for Governor in 2018 as well?
It might be brutal, but they have some very popular candidates that are well-liked and well-known in this state. Huether has not acquired that status as of yet, and remember, he didn’t win the last mayoral race by a landslide. I can’t remember exactly – but at least 47% of SF is already done with MMM.
I have heard the off chance of Pat O’Brien as well. He would have a lot of work to do. People of SD like to keep things close to the vest. I think Pat would have a tough time getting Joe farmer and rancher to vote for him. Plus, his very public past issues may hurt him more than he thinks.
Just my opinion on all of this.
Considering he still has a grudge against the 40% that didn’t vote for him to remain in office, I don’t think he’s emotionally mature enough to run for another office.
Scott you got it right. He’ll run off to Sanford for another emergency colonoscopy to avoid himself taking a long hard look at himself. What an a clown
Pat O’Brien has lost his ability to speak in complete sentences.
Pat O’Brien
has spent most of his adult life living outside of the state of South Dakota (think, Daschle) and
has a long history of substance abuse problems.
is this guy, Winston, kidding?
O’Brien or Huether won’t come within 20 points of Mick, bank on it.
Maybe they could battle each other for Mayor of Yankton?
I read that and was surprised Huether went to college. He seems like such a blue collar everyman.
Voter, I am not “kidding.”
About a year ago, O’Brien hinted in an interview he might return to SD to run for governor in 2018. He claimed in the interview (to paraphrase him) that his past is well known, but in his estimation the fact that it was out there meant he was already vetted and the other candidates were the ones the voters should be concerned about, however.
O’Brien would have money and name ID. He could not defeat Huether in a Democratic primary, but he might give it a try as a last hurrah and slow Huether down.
Al Anon, I agree that “Mick” would be the most difficult for the Dems to defeat in ’18. He is the “John-john” candidate of the Republican gubernatorial hopefuls. But I think the stars are lining-up for the Dems in ’18 and especially Huether, because Huether will have the money to spend with name ID, but losing Hildebrand has been costly for him politically. I thought his ’14 re election bid was lame compared to his ’10 bid (You could definitely tell Hildy was missing from that campaign).
Back to the “stars lining-up,” as I mentioned earlier the Republicans are going to have a brutal primary in ’18 and the Dems only have to be lucky once, the Republicans have to keep being lucky every time (Hey, isn’t that what the IRA said about Maggie versus them back in the day?…;-) )
Republicans also need to nominate Mickelson, in order to assure a victory, I believe because his family story is the only one which is more compelling than Huether’s potentially, but Mickelson is vulnerable especially if the 2016 presidential race ends up being Clinton/Bush, because Huether could use “Dynasty Politics” to his liking and tell the voters of his rag to riches story.
Also, keep in mind, the Mickelsons have always been politically relevant, but they have done it in a way where their victories have been marginal at best. In 1986,
George S. Mickelson won the Republican primary with less than 35% of the vote, but Clint Roberts who was second in that primary did not contest the race at the party convention and instead supported Mickelson’s nomination at the state convention (Then Roberts became Mickelson’s Sec. of Ag). Then, in the fall of that year, Mickelson defeated Herseth (Lars) in a 51/49% race, then Mickelson was re-elected with 58%of the vote in 1990. Most Republican governors win with a comfortable margin the first time and definitely over 60+% for their re-election. The Mickelsons know how to win with a less then impressive consistency, but so does Huether and he is a registered Democrat and his victories are more impressive especially as a Democrat.
Winston, I am one (registered Independent) South Dakota voter who does NOT find Huether’s story compelling.
Adult child of an alcoholic father, he has obviously never worked through the baggage associated with his upbringing.
He spent his non-political life building his personal wealth off the backs of the poor and vulnerable as the marketing kingpin for T. Denny Sanford’s notorious credit card business.
He has spent the past five years as SF mayor working deals under the table and behind closed doors.
I think there are plenty of South Dakota voters who do not find his story compelling and who would never cast a vote for him to lead this State.
If that is the case, then what are you worried about?
Every candidate “Stumps” while on their current job. Why is this any different? Our wonderful President has been at it for months already- just as every President before him.