Delightful, Democratic, and Nowhere Near Official: The Madville Times District 8 Caucus!

Hey, quick! While Russ, Dan, and Dave are all off in Pierre, let's have a caucus and see who should replace 'em!

Welcome to the first ever Madville Times District 8 Caucus, where you can nominate your favorite resident of Sanborn, Miner, Lake, and Moody Counties for the esteemed position of District 8 Senator or Representative to the South Dakota Legislature.

Who can participate? Republicans, Democrats, Independents... pretty much anyone in the District (no proof of residency necessary -- honor system, kids!).

How do you participate? Just click on the comment link and submit the names of folks you'd like to see serving as your District 8 State Senator and Representatives. Go ahead and argue for them -- tell us why your choices would be great legislators for District 8. You don't have to include your name, but it might be fun to include your party affiliation, just to see which way the parties are leaning.

Whom can you nominate? You can nominate one person for Senate and two for the House. Article 3 of the state constitution says they have to be 21, US citizens, and SD residents for at least two years. They also have to live in the district (this is the Legislature, not the Heartland Consumer Power District board). And yes, you can nominate yourself. (Russ, Dan, Dave -- care to give the Madville Times a scoop on your intentions? ;-) )

How much impact will the Madville Times District 8 caucus have? Probably darn little, but that's o.k. -- it should be a fun conversation!

To get the ball rolling, here's the Madville Times District 8 Dream Team, biased not by party but by hometown affiliation (I could vote for an incumbent or two, but at the moment, I'm in a throw-the-rascals-out mood):

1. Senate: James "Doc" Miller, theater director, Madison High School. Politics is theater, and Doc knows theater. The speeches would be spectacular! And seriously, when the state spends half of its budget on education, wouldn't it be a good idea to have some actual educators involved in the legislative process?
   
2. House: Brett Kearin, DSU student. As a budding entrepreneur, Kearin knows firsthand the challenges that entrepreneurs face in making their hometown dreams come true in South Dakota.
3. House: DeLon Mork, owner, Madison Dairy Queen. So Russ's outfit, Heartland, bought all the legisltors personalized mugs as welcome-back swag? Nuts to that. DeLon would get them all Blizzards! They'd appoint him chair of all the important committees.

There are my picks... open to discussion and change. The caucus remains open through March 25, the last day to file primary election nominating petitions. I'll post running totals in the sidebar as time permits. So declare your loyalties! Submit your nominations!