From Drinking Liberally . . .
In South Dakota: The South Dakota Democratic Party (SDDP) holds its annual McGovern Day celebration in Sioux Falls on April 28th. Lately, they have been congratulating themselves for fielding candidates for all 105 State Senate and House seats this year. This is the first time either party has fielded a complete candidate slate in anyone’s memory. They are rightly proud of their recruiting success and they hope it will lead to greater electoral success. After all, they argue, with Trump as the face of the Republican Party, it should be a good year for Democrats. At least they hope so.
Unfortunately and objectively, the South Dakota Secretary of State’s latest voter registration numbers do not support this Democratic optimism. Once again in March, as it has in almost every month since Ann Tornberg became SDDP Chair in December, 2014, the Republicans increased their voter registration advantage over Democrats, gaining 608 new registrants against a Democratic registration decline of 628 voters. Independent and other party registration rose by 459 voters in March. In South Dakota’s 35 legislative districts Republican candidates now enjoy an average registration advantage over their Democratic opponents of 2526 voters. I wish all Democratic candidates well but an electoral advantage this large is difficult to overcome.
For the record: Since Ann Tornberg became SDDP Chair in December, 2014, Democratic voter registration has declined by 22,118 voters, from 175,748 to 157,630, while Republican registration has increased by 5,004, from 241,044 to 246,048. Independents and Other Parties increased by 15,021 voters to 120,829 during the same period. Democratic voter registration now stands at 29.9% of the electorate. I do not remember it ever falling below 30% before. In December 2014, 33.3% of the voters were registered Democrats. It appears Ann and the rural dominated SDDP she represents can recruit candidates. Whether or not they can build a winning coalition remains to be seen. The evidence suggests otherwise.
Good luck Democrats.