We knew Joe was running, and as I have mentioned in the past he has the best resume. I have been telling folks lately though I am seriously looking at ALL of the mayoral candidates since they all have great qualities to be mayor, they also have their faults, but it will be interesting to see who will rise above those obstacles.
Erickson no doubt is the favorite, mainly for her exuberate personality, and this will be a hard to combat. Also, with likely being the ONLY woman running, she may garner a lot of female support. I did hear her on a podcast recently and she leans MAGA and seems to be supporting deportation efforts in Sioux Falls. If she continues the ‘Trump Talk’ I’m not sure this helps her, except amongst those mouth breathers, and when you are campaigning to 7% of the voting public in Sux, it’s wise to stay on a clear message.
I have no doubt if Jamison decides to run, he will have a polished campaign that is consistent on policy ideas, I also have NO doubt Joe will do the same. Couldn’t tell you much about the Smith campaign since it seems their strategy so far is let’s keep it a secret he is running and when individuals reach out to you for help or promotion you just ignore them. If I had a dollar for every DEM that told me about the unresponsiveness of his campaign, I could fund his campaign. Not a good look. I do like Jamie though and believe he would be the most populist candidate wanting to get things done for the citizens and not just for the Developer Welfare Queens (though working in Real Estate may present conflicts). Also, his unresponsiveness may be a sign of how he will do as a mayor.
If any of the candidates tell me they will end TIFs in this city (or at least make them only for affordable housing) I would support the candidate, hands down. TIFs are straddling our city with uncontrollable infrastructure needs and no way to pay for them. It also hurts our county and school district with property tax dollars they have to make up for from the state (which withholds crucial funding). I think if there is a candidate that addresses property taxes and TIFs they will have a good chance of winning. In fact, if any of the candidates running put property taxes as part of their campaign agenda they would at least get people interested in your other campaign promises.
This next city election will be about the economy, hands down, and by election time next year, it will likely be in the toilet. The candidates will need to talk about kitchen table ideas, because swimming pools and event centers are a thing of the past.
If Huether gets into it, then Smith might not be in the run-off, but with Smith in it, then maybe Huether won’t either…. Heels is my favorite horse to win this race…. Batcheller will get 12%, which will be 6 times the vote for David Z, while Jamison should stay out of it and stay home and organize his baseball card collection…. 🙂 #Heels&Hoofs
Oh, and this is not as scary as a bunch of zombies in town:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgmiBjJFOSA
( and Woodstock adds: “Say, if Trump would nationalize the local Guard around here, then maybe we could keep everyone on the bike trail at 15 mph or less, huh?”…. ( …. ”Heel & Hoofs’?”…. “Actually, that sounds like a great name for a new boutique shop around here …. ( …. “And say, speaking of that, what are all of the candidates’ positions on boutique grocers?”…. )))
The other factor, for better or worse, is candidate appearance. Erickson is very attractive as well as professional looking, and will have that going for her as TenHaken did with the taupeville moms. Honestly, I think she wins in a landslide, unless she goes too far right or left. The property tax issue will only continue to heat up as people are pressured from extremely high increases in homeowners’ insurance (multiple hail events in the past decade), along with increasing auto insurance rates in SF. Frankly, the homeowners rate increases a lot of us have been seeing will make no room for extravagant opt outs and missing taxes from TIF giveaways.
Homeowners’ insurance: The state needs to establish a bonding authority for a state-run, non-profit homeowners’ insurance cooperative.
More TIFs please!
Erikson wins unless Merkoris pulls enough support away from her. Merkoris won’t have money but will still get at least 10-15%. Huether has a strong chance.
Who does mayor poops support?
Since the 2024 Fall General Election, kitchen table issues have been winning political contests.
There would be argument about if the winner is really dealing with kitchen table issues for the benefit of ordinary citizens, but the race for US POTUS was settled on kitchen table issues. Lot’s of voters (Indys snd Dems) in voting enclaves of metropolitan areas which are economically at-risk voted for Trump.
Are the bougies in Sioux Falls hurting enough that the kitchen table becomes a centerpiece for the upcoming mayoral election? I doubt it.
And for many of the chamber cronies who are members of the social club which is republicanism in Sioux Falls, increased City government expenditure which finds its way to their pocket IS a kitchen table issue, just the kitchen table locared at their 3rd vacation property.