Whether or not you’re a fan of South Dakota having as much influence in the U.S. Senate as California, the unpredictability of the race to replace the retiring Sen. Tim Johnson has made it exciting—and national media like The New York Times are paying attention:
A race that most had thought was safely Republican is suddenly the focus of national attention, thanks to the surprisingly successful candidacy of former Senator Larry Pressler, a Republican who is running as an independent.
And the thing that makes it especially sweet is that we’ve got a great candidate who has a real shot at representing South Dakota as a true progressive in the Senate—Rick Weiland:
A former aide to Senator Tom Daschle, Mr. Weiland has run a liberal campaign attacking moneyed interests that is more in the tradition of the populist William Jennings Bryan than William Jefferson Clinton.
“The national party has this view that in states like South Dakota you’ve got to run in the center or you can’t win,” Mr. Weiland said. “And you know what: They don’t know South Dakota.”
Weiland is solid on the issues. Actually, more than solid, as kos wrote in our endorsement of his candidacy:
But it’s not just the emergence of a legitimate three-way race in a state Republicans had already penciled in as an easy win, it’s the fact that we can actually upgrade our caucus on the “better Democrats” front from the outgoing Democrat Tim Johnson. I mean, look at Democrat Rick Weiland’s answers to our endorsement questionnaire. This isn’t a Blue Dog that we’re backing. We’re backing a genuine prairie populist at a time when control of the Senate hangs on the line. We’re not holding our noses on this one, we’re in full-heartedly.
On everything from Medicare-for-all to immigration reform to expanding Social Security to protecting the right to organize at work, Rick Weiland is on our side, and he’s got a real shot of winning.
Voting by mail is convenient, easy, and defeats the best of the GOP’s voter suppression efforts. Sign up here to check eligibility and vote by mail, then get your friends, family, and coworkers to sign up as well.
Fortunately, national Democrats understand that this is a real contest and are committing $1 million to win the race, kicking things off with a television ad targeting GOP nominee Mike Rounds. But Republicans are also putting more money into the state, and Rick Weiland needs your support too—if you can, please chip in $3 to help South Dakota send a strong Democratic voice to the U.S. Senate.
