“There’s a tear in my beer because I’m crying for yah dear, please help run this race . . .”

When I first heard about this on Monday, I thought the announcement of Suzie’s departure and a possible run by Billie so sloppy, I just sat on the news to see if someone heard something different, I guess not;

Jones Pranger didn’t say whose campaign she would be working on, but signaled it would be for state Sen. Billie Sutton, D-Burke. (Sutton has not announced his 2018 plans.) “South Dakota Democrats have many great potential candidates like Senator Billie Sutton who, should they decide to run, would level the playing field for South Dakota’s working class,” Jones Pranger said in an email.

This could have been coordinated better . . . oh, nevermind, forgot who I was talking about. And we’ll all sit around in November of 2018 and wonder how Mike Huether became Governor.

sutton

My possible opponent may be good at creating ‘bull’ but I’m good at cleaning it up.

Stormland TV did a story about Mr. Sutton, focusing on the attributes of the state legislator, his disability and his possible run for governor, in which he says;

“You never know,” Sutton said. “You just never know.”

I hope he does run for Governor in 2018. The funny part is when I hear my political friends talk about Sutton, they always say great things, and these are my Republican friends. Trust me, they know he is a player for the Governor’s race and needs to be watched closely.

Bernie Hunhoff also points out another great attribute of Sutton;

 “I think he knows everybody West River,” Hunhoff said. “And obviously, if a Democrat can make some headway West River, he can probably do pretty good in statewide office.”

Something either Mickelson or Huether would struggle with greatly.

So will the Democrats put themselves through another miserable and disappointing primary in 2018 for the governor’s race? More than likely since Daugaard is term limited. The interesting part is to see if the party will divide itself over a Sutton/Huether primary or if they will quietly ask one of them to back down. There is also the factor if Noem decides to run for governor leaving her congressional seat open (I think Huether would run for that seat instead).

But let’s say Sutton & Huether do decide to run against each other in a primary. Besides the fact that Huether will have Sanford & First Premiere in his corner and more money I think a Sutton/Huether matchup will be interesting. Let’s compare the two;

Billie Sutton is an investment consultant banker (handling ‘real’ investments and ‘real’ money for his clients).

Mike Huether calls himself a ‘former banker’ (actually, he was the head salesman for a subprime credit card company, selling debt, not investments).

Billie Sutton is a REAL cowboy and former bronc rider who broke his back and has become disabled from participating in the sport.

Mike Huether ran into a steel fence post while chasing down an out of bounds tennis ball and broke his arm.

Billie Sutton wears a cowboy hat and drives a big truck.

Mike Huether’s hair scares the Hell out of most people, he also drives a truck.

Billie Sutton is a rancher who used to ride broncs.

Mike Huether did a photo op on a bull and collected beer cans as a child.

Billie Sutton and his wife have twins on the way.

Mike Huether has a tennis barn with his name on it.

Billie Sutton is the assistant minority leader of the Democrats in the State Legislature.

Mike Heuther is the chair of the city council meetings and yells at Kermit Staggers quite a bit.

Billie Sutton is a Democrat.

Huether calls himself a Democrat.

 

At this point, whether Huether decides to run for governor or not, I encourage Sutton to put his hat in the ring.