Gant Wins GOP Nomination

State Sen. Jason Gant of Sioux Falls hugs his daughter, Mallory, on Saturday, June 26, 2010, in Huron, S.D., after winning the South Dakota Republican Party's nomination to run for secretary of state. Gant will face Democratic state Sen. Ben Nesselhuf of Vermillion in November for secretary of state. Photo: Chet Brokaw / AP



GOP, Democrats finalize candidates for SD ballot

CHET BROKAW, Associated Press Writers, WAYNE ORTMAN, Associated Press Writers

Published: 05:59 p.m., Saturday, June 26, 2010

HURON, S.D. (AP) — Both major parties firmed up their candidate lineups for the November general elections Saturday at their state conventions.

State Sen. Jason Gant of Sioux Falls won a three-way battle for the South Dakota Republican Party's nomination to run for secretary of state.

Gant, 33, won the nomination on the second ballot, defeating Deputy Secretary of State Teresa Bray and state Rep. Tom Deadrick of Platte.

Gant and other Republicans said they're worried that the Democratic candidate, state Sen. Ben Nesselhuf of Vermillion, would weaken controls on voting by allowing registration on Election Day and doing away with some voter identification requirements.

"If we let him get elected, we're going to have very questionable elections in our state," Gant said of Nesselhuf.

Nesselhuf won the Democratic nomination without opposition. In accepting the nomination, he sounded a theme common throughout the day at the Democratic
convention in Sioux Falls: Republicans have held too many elected offices for too long.

"The people I'm running against are not bad people; they're good folks, I know them all," Nesselhuf said, "but the reason it's important to win this race is essentially the same crowd has been running this office for the past 32 years and it's time for some fresh energy, some fresh ideas."

The secretary of state's office supervises elections and handles corporate business filings.

Gant fell short of the required 50 percent on the GOP convention's first vote, where each county delegation gets to cast the number of votes it gave the Republican gubernatorial candidate in the last election. Gant, a health care consultant who is in his 6th year in the state Senate, got 51 percent on the second ballot.

Democrats nominated former state lawmaker Ron Volesky of Huron to run for attorney general. He will face Republican incumbent Marty Jackley, who won his party's nomination Friday without opposition.

Volesky was the Democratic Party's unsuccessful candidate for the same office four years ago. He ran briefly for governor before abandoning that race this year, then lost a primary race for the Legislature.

Volesky said he won't let past political losses defeat him.

"I am inspired and motivated by those traumas, those setbacks," he told fellow Democrats, "just as the party the setbacks we have suffered need to motivate us and strengthen us, ever diligent to go forward."

Steve Barnett of Aberdeen, an aide to U.S. Sen. John Thune, won the Republican nomination for state auditor, defeating former South Dakota First Lady Pat Miller and state Rep. Tim Rounds of Pierre. Barnett will face Democratic state Sen. Julie Bartling of Burke, for the right to run the auditor's office, which pays the state's bills.

Barnett, 31, has worked for Thune for about five years. He is the grandson of the late state Rep. Joe Barnett of Aberdeen, a legendary leader in the South Dakota House for many years.

Bartling said she brings experience to the job with 18 years as Gregory County auditor and 10 years in the Legislature.

In the race for state treasurer, Republican State Auditor Rich Sattgast will face former Democratic legislator Tom Katus, who said he finalized his decision to accept the nomination just before the Democratic convention began Saturday.

Sattgast cannot seek re-election as state auditor because of term limits. At the GOP convention, he defeated deputy state treasurer Mike Mehlhaff Sr. for the right to run for treasurer. The treasurer's office accepts payments to the state and invests the money.

On Friday, the Republican Party also nominated Public Utilities Commission Chairman Dusty Johnson and School and Public Lands Commissioner Jerrod Johnson to seek re-election. They were unopposed.

Democrats chose Doyle Karpen of Jefferson over John Zaiko of Pierre to run for the PUC and endorsed Bob Pille of Manderson to run for commissioner of School and Public Lands.

Wayne Ortman reported from the Democratic State Convention in Sioux Falls.

Campaign Finance Reform Needed

We continue to see Campaign Fianance issues come up regarding all of the money being spent in political campaigns. Check out DakotaWarCollege post on Organization’s PAC money laundering activity might come into question in 2010 election. – Part I and Organization’s PAC money laundering activity might come into question in 2010 election. – Part II.

As your next Secretary of State, Senator Jason Gant will lead the charge for Campaign Finance Reform. Whether it is passing legislation to ensure that campaign money is transparent to the public to working with our federal government to ensure that their laws include transparency.

"We will never slow down the amount of money spent on political campaigns, but we can demand that South Dakota laws require openness and transparency," said Senator Gant.

Senator Gant explains SB 101

Here is the video of Senator Jason Gant explaining to members of the South Dakota Senate what Senate Bill 101 would accomplish.

Illustrates the need for new leadership with a fresh set of eyes on election procedures and safeguards

Candidate for Secretary of State, Senator Jason Gant of Sioux Falls, watched with concern, the recent election developments in Minnehaha County. Most notably, the unfortunate set of circumstances that unfolded in the District 14 State House Primary. As has been reported by numerous media outlets, over one hundred (100) ballots were mistakenly neglected by election workers and were not counted due to being misplaced.

“I believe this extremely unfortunate development illustrates the need for new leadership with a fresh set of eyes on election procedures and safeguards in South Dakota. In the fiscal year 2010 we as a State should be able to use technology and proper safeguards to ensure that South Dakotans have their votes counted,” stated Senator Gant.

The University of South Dakota graduate and Geddes native continued, “Those of us close to election procedures saw something like this coming. As a matter of fact, situations like this were the catalyst for my introduction of Senate Bill 101 during the 2010 legislative session. Not only will that bill save counties, school districts, and the state money, but it will also provide another level of protection.”

Senator Gant has served the last six years in the South Dakota Senate. During that time Senator Gant has been a leader on issues like government transparency and election reform. In 2007, Senator Gant was awarded the South Dakota Newspaper Association Eagle Award for promoting transparent government and this year Senator Gant drafted and was the prime sponsor on legislation meant to bring South Dakota election law in line with the United States Supreme Court precedent.

Read it here.

or Read it here.

Gant receives DakotaWarCollege Endorsement for Secretary of State

Senator Jason Gant received the DakotaWarCollege endorsement.

Read it here.

I’ve been working tirelessly to reach out to fellow delegates in the run up to the South Dakota GOP convention. Our campaign has been gaining momentum each day as we pick up the support of delegates across this great state.

Today, I want to announce the support of Brookings County GOP delegate and South Dakota’s most popular political blogger Pat Powers. I want to thank Pat for this support and appreciate the opportunity to appear on his blog, DakotaWarCollege.com. You can read it all here: Dakota War College Endorses Jason Gant

His support is appreciated and I would also appreciate the opportunity to gain your support next weekend at the GOP Convention. I’m looking forward to meeting with each of you next week and gaining your support and confidence.