Deputy COS T.J. Nelson is running in Precinct 309 and City Councilor Greg Neitzert is running in Precinct 317 for Committee people in the Republican Party.

While the waters have already been tested by Erickson and Staggers for councilors as committee people (the ethics commission said it was OK because they are volunteer positions) that question has never been asked about appointed city employees who work for a non-partisan mayor.

While I don’t take issue with T.J. being a proud Republican party member, I wonder if he is testing the waters on this?

If I sat on the Ethics Commission I would probably OK it, but the optics of it don’t look good when your boss has promised to be a non-partisan mayor in the campaign. I’m wondering if T.J. asked an opinion of the Ethics Commission or the city attorney?

What do you think?

It seems T.J.’s name is coming up a lot as a partisan, I think this will hurt Paul in the long run.

18 Thoughts on “TenHaken’s Deputy COS is running for a Republican Committeeman

  1. Paul ElevenHaken on May 31, 2018 at 8:34 pm said:

    It’s nothing.

  2. Actually, when it comes to constituents, perception is everything.

  3. Honestly, I am not sure anyone cares about TJ’s political opinions/involvement but you. It will only haunt Paul in the sense that it’s another non-issue that South DaCola just won’t let go of.

  4. I just keep thinking about how our Mayor said at Democratic Forum in April, that he dropped out of a legislative race a couple of years ago because he didn’t want the “R” behind his name….Huh?…. And TJ was there too!… What the heck?…. That ain’t “nothing,” that’s something….. Something else…..

  5. l3wis on May 31, 2018 at 9:49 pm said:

    anon nails it. If I were mayor I wouldn’t have people working for me that were partisan. I would not hold it against them, but I also would not hire them. Just because a majority of SF is Christian, White and Republican doesn’t mean that is all who we serve. As mayor, and his staff, you must serve ALL.

  6. Dutch Oven on June 1, 2018 at 9:24 am said:

    You hit the nail on the head with this a couple weeks ago. TJ has been a job hopper. This just smacks of keeping his eyes on something else other than settling in and doing a good job for the taxpayers paying his salary. Why be angling for partisan work & activities when the inks not even dry yet on your employment with the City? Cool your jets, help the new new mayor, chill out on the partisan stuff for awhile.

  7. Maybe the Mayor is hoping secretively that Billy wins in the fall, so he can run against him in 2022….

  8. matt johnson on June 1, 2018 at 11:54 am said:

    I understand that you did not like folks such as Darrin Smith but I don’t recall his partisanship being questioned; triple M was not criticized for having been a democrat until he wasn’t a democrat any more

  9. l3wis on June 1, 2018 at 1:32 pm said:

    Matt, I hate to burst your bubble, but Huether was NEVER a Democrat, just registered as such. He was a Corporatist through and through. He used the Dems and the Unions to get what he wanted and once he saw the state party go in the toilet he knew if he would ever run for higher office he couldn’t do it as a Dem.

  10. l3wis on June 1, 2018 at 1:33 pm said:

    As Darrin Smith, he’s what we call a ‘Wine & Cheese’ Democrat like Erpenbach.

  11. ‘Wine & Cheese’ Democrats are the ones who gave us Trump, because their heads were too deeply buried in their bucket list…. (“Oh, don’t worry about Michigan or Pennsylvania, we’ll still carry them even though we are for free trade…. It’s much better for us to emphasize our social agenda anyhow… We got the economic thing in the bag…. Don’t you worry about it….Oh, and I don’t like cheese either, but I do ride in a limo……”)

  12. matt johnson on June 1, 2018 at 5:18 pm said:

    yet you did not criticize their partisanship

  13. MJ,

    “Wine & Cheese” Democrats are really not partisan, especially in South Dakota. Often their events have Republican elites in hand.

  14. The Guy from Guernsey on June 2, 2018 at 3:15 pm said:

    Wait. We Republicans operate on a Precinct basis ? I thought this was the wrong approach ?

  15. The Guy from Guernsey on June 2, 2018 at 3:25 pm said:

    I see tremendous upside for the precinct. Mrs. Nelson always comes as part of the complete T.J. package. She has rich (not to mention brash and unapologetic) experience that will be valuable to the Social Media Rapid Response Team for the precinct.

  16. TGfG,

    That’s a good point. I always knew that all of the Republicans are “nothing” but a bunch of ‘closet precincters’…. (“What I do in my precinct is none of your business…..”)

  17. anominous on June 3, 2018 at 12:38 am said:

    pth should award lil’ Tj a different job title because tj’s social media poopy-mouth had already stained any connection to the real COS title that Erica has.

  18. LINDA on June 4, 2018 at 8:04 am said:

    Wow mmm not a democrate He lobbed for Obumer care Hey he first ran as republican but that was lie ? He told me so when he was first running to my face.Guess I wasn’t the only one he told that too.Soon after a democrate and when Trump was elected nearly a week later mmm said he was an independent .wow anyway the wind blows.

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