Jury Selection in Willard Robocall Trial Favors Russ Olson's Wentworth Neighbors

A group of randomly selected Lake County citizens will troop to the courthouse tomorrow to see if they win a seat on the jury for Daniel Willard's robocall trial, which will treat them to lengthy discourses on South Dakota campaign finance law, the First Amendment, and the conflicts therebetween.

Oh, wait, did I say randomly?

As I understand the process, the state and Willard both get to strike three jurors. That means the first 18 names on the jury list are probably all the further down we need to go to see who's likely to hear the case.

This case is happening in Lake County because resigning Senator Russell Olson is claiming the harm (remember, Olson, calls it terrorism) from Willard's robocalls. Olson lives in the Wentworth ZIP, 57075, as do 892 other Lake County residents. Wentworth/57075 makes up 7.97% of Lake County's 11,200-person population (I'm using 2010 Census data). Those percentages would shift a bit if we were talking just legal adults eligible for jury duty, but let's roll with what we have.

Given those numbers, one would expect a list of 18 people randomly drawn from Lake County to include maybe one or two of Russ's Wentworth neighbors. Do some math, and you discover that there's a 95% chance that an 18-person random sample of Lake County residents should include no more than three Wentworthers.

The first 18 names on the Willard trial jury list include nine people from Wentworth.

Run this experiment one million times, and you should get that many 57075 residents in your jury pool three times.

In an infinite universe, anything can happen. In Lake County, anything includes a jury pool with a highly unlikely geographical bias toward the influential aggrieved party.

Tangentially Related Judicial Trivia: Did you know that it is a Class 2 misdemeanor to ask the sheriff or deputy sheriff to place yourself or anyone else on a jury? See SDCL 16-13-44. Lawyer friends, can you explain to me where that statute came from? And has anyone ever been prosecuted under it?

District 8 Legislative Candidates' Forum: What They Said

I managed to watch the final District 8 Legislative candidates' forum this weekend, courtesy of KJAM's diligent election videography.

Here's what I learned:

1. Charlie Johnson could have become a lawyer. In his introduction, Johnson said he was accepted into USD's law school but turned that down to work as a small-farm advocate.
2. The man Johnson wants to replace, Senator Russell Olson, doesn't understand the disconnect between what he says and what he does on education. He says he's deeply concerned about raising teacher pay. He says he opposes Initiated Measure 15 because it doesn't guarantee that the new revenue goes to teachers. He says he supports Referred Law 16 because it is the first time he and his fellow legislators have made an effort to pay great teachers more. But Russ, if paying teachers more is such a priority for you, why didn't you get around to it until the sixth year of your time in Pierre?
3. Leslie Heinemann isn't a complete GOP tool. Instead of the vague, evidenceless claims that Senator Olson and fellow House candidate Gene Kroger make for Governor Daugaard's education agenda, Heinemann admits his reservations about the bonus program for teachers. He says he can "discriminate" in his small business and pay more to the employees he thinks are working hard. He recognizes, however, that it's difficult to impose the private business model on public schools.
4. Charlie Johnson sums up Referred Law 16's merit pay plank best: "I don't cultivate, fertilize, and harvest only 20% of my acres. I take care of all my acres. That's the way we have to do education, take care of all of education." He says Russ and the Governor are using Referred Law 16 as a "diversion tactic" to keep us from focusing on the real problem if their neglect of K-12 education funding.
5. Amendment M is not going to pass, and even Russ Olson doesn't care. He says the amendment on corporate voting and regulation would create a more business-friendly climate in South Dakota—and when Russ says "business-friendly," he means crony-capitalist. But Russ acknowledges that there hasn't been much effort to educate the public on the merits of M, so he appears to shrug at its prospects, as did most other candidates at the podium.
6. As I expected, Gene Kroger is least equipped to deal with policy issues. On Initiated Measure 15, while the other candidates addressed the regressive nature of the sales tax, the size of the proposed increase (excellent rebuttal from Roy Lindsay, explaining that IM15 is not the largest tax increase in South Dakota history), and the merits of spending the money on K-12 education and Medicaid, Kroger reverted to his Grumpy Old Party talk about inflation and how he has to pay twice as much for his pork and beans. Note to Gene: under President Barack Obama, monthly inflation has averaged 1.6%. Under President George W. Bush, it was 2.8%. From 1914 to 2008, it was 3.4%.
7. Asked about rising student debt, Kroger again shrugged his grumpy old shoulders and said students have to "decide if this is what I want to do and do I want to pay the price to do it." He asserted that South Dakota tuition is lower and students have less debt than in other states, which is GOP code for "Quit your bellyaching." It's also only one-third true. South Dakota graduates have the median student debt in the country, which happens to be less than the national average. But South Dakota has the second-highest percentage (76%) of students graduating with debt. And given that our wages are the second-lowest in the nation, those students have an even harder time paying off their debt.
8. All six candidates expressed their eagerness to use government to create jobs by protecting and expanding Dakota State University. Senator Olson confirmed that he is hoping to arrange for the state to acquire the current Madison Community Hospital property when that organization builds its new facility on the south side of Madison.
9. While Russ Olson thinks getting DSU more land and buildings will help the university, Charlie Johnson says that if we want students to fill those buildings, we need to find more state support to keep tuition affordable. 

On the whole, if you have to pick a Republican in District 8. He at least shows signs of critical thinking that go beyond what Fox News or Governor Daugaard tell him to think. But the joy of living in District 8 is that you do not have to pick a Republican. You have a full slate of Democratic candidates. Charlie Johnson, Scott Parsley, and Roy Lindsay will legislate with more concern for the common good and sensible, evidence-based policy than their Republican counterparts.

District 8 Senate Prediction and Endorsement

The latest Madville Times poll finds the local electorate split on the relevance of the criminal records of both District 8 State Senate candidates, Independent/Democrat Clark Schmidtke, Sr., and incumbent Republican Senator Russell Olson. I asked whether the criminal records of each man, revealed just in the past week in the blogosphere, would affect your vote for District 8 Senate. The results:

	Schmidtke	Olson
Yes	51 (57%)	30 (34%)
No	39 (43%)	57 (66%)

These numbers seem reasonable. Russell Olson is better known and better liked. Those who know and like a guy are more inclined to forgiveness toward that guy. Additionally, Olson's crimes—speeding, failure to stop, failure to appear, open container, simple assault—happened mostly when he was in his 20s and fall into that fuzzy category we reserve for crimes of the young and stupid. Schmidtke's guilty plea to three counts of theft occurred in his 40s and involved misuse of checkbooks of elderly folks placed in his care.

In 2006, the last off-year election, Democratic District 8 Senator Dan Sutton beat Republican challenger John Toates 57% to 43%. Sutton had just been hit with allegations of improper conduct with a male page at least as scandalous as the charges against Schmidtke. In the face of those charges, the relatively quiet Toates was able to get 43% of the district to mark his name. And this was with Sutton supporters still able to say, "Innocent until proven guilty."

In 2008, Olson beat a much stronger Democratic contender, Scott Parsley, 55% to 45%. Schmidtke, with less money, less name recognition, and fewer connections than Parsley, was probably headed pre-scandal for a 40% finish. Speculating wildly from the above poll results, I'm going to guess that Schmidtke's court record loses him two votes for every one Olson's court record loses him. Not helping Schmidtke's situation: the Madison Daily Leader gives Schmidtke's court record front-page coverage on the Friday before the election while making no mention of Olson's court record. A large portion of voters who don't access online media thus have no idea that they will vote for a man with a significant criminal record regardless of which District 8 Senate bubble they fill.

Given Schmidtke has no legislative record or other major connections to counter the bad press, I'll project Olson's margin of victory rises from 60–40 to 70–30.

I will still be voting with that 30.

Russell Olson has enjoyed the benefits of numerous favors from the wealthy and powerful in Madison and South Dakota. His friends in the party of Janklow, Rounds, and Prostrollo handed him comfortable government-related jobs while the ink was still fresh on his court record. Rich Republicans in Madison and across the state have handed him tens of thousands of dollars to buy ads and win elections against much less-well-funded opponents. Russell Olson is where he is because of a lot of favors from a lot of powerful people.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't get the impression Clark Schmidtke has ever gotten much in the way of favors from the rich and powerful. I don't get the impression he moves in those circles. The way he told me his side of the story, the powers that be were looking for a way to get him and forced him to surrender when he couldn't afford to fight.

Now we have Russell Olson, who owes his career to the benevolence of the powers that be, acting as a staunch defender of those powers. He knows that running for office brings risks of public criticism of his past, but he can rely on his wealthy and powerful friends to support him.

And we have Clark Schmidtke, who appears not to have grabbed any gold ring of patronage, challenging the powers that rule South Dakota. He knows that running for office brings risks of public criticism of his past, and he has few wealthy or powerful individuals to speak on his behalf or fill his campaign coffers to splash images of his happy family across the newspapers to counter bad publicity. He knew the past that could be used against him in this campaign could also hurt his business. Yet in the face of that risk, Schmidtke still chose to take on a fight that matters to him, a fight for good government, a fight for better policies on education and health care, a fight against handouts to rich oil corporations.

Clark, I have no wealth, no power to offer you. I have only my vote, and a little blog post that may redound against you as much as it will redound against me (especially if there are any more surprises). Oh well. I've faced worse. So have you, Clark.

I can't guarantee I'll bring anyone else along. But Clark, you have my vote.

Vote Now: Do Criminal Records Matter in District 8 Senate Race?

The last Madville Times poll before the general election asks two questions:

1. Will Clark Schmidtke's criminal record affect your vote for District 8 State Senate?
2. Will Russell Olson's criminal record affect your vote for District 8 State Senate?

I'll take votes here in the right-hand sidebar until noon on Monday. Tell your friends, and vote now! And then 24 hours later, we can all head to the polls and finally cast the votes that matter.

Worth noting: you can read another, less well-written version of Mr. Schmidtke's troubles with the Minnesota court system in Friday's Madison Daily Leader. You cannot yet read any version of Senator Olson's encounters with the South Dakota court system in the Madison Daily Leader (at least not the online version), which has made thousands of dollars in advertising from Olson over the last four years.

Next District 8 Senator Will Have Noteworthy Court Record

I still have one or two posts in the chute on last week's candidates forum here in District 8. I want very much to talk about the policies discussed by the four legislative candidates who attended the AAUW forum.

But first, I must address the court records publicized by Pat Powers at Dakota War College. Last week an anonymous source pointed Mr. Powers toward online documents from the state of Minnesota. The first document, from the Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings in 1995, indicates that

Clark Schmidtke, Sr., Independent/Democrat candidate for South Dakota District 8 Senate

Clark Schmidtke, Sr., Independent/Democratic candidate for District 8 State Senate, admitted that he had forged two checks in the names of individuals in his care. The associated report recommended disciplinary action against Mr. Schmidtke's adult foster care license. The second document, from the Ethical Practices Board of Minnesota's Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board in 1997, indicates that Clark Schmidtke failed to file a final campaign finance report for his 1994 campaign for District 22B State Legislature and accepted a campaign contribution exceeding the 1994 contribution limit. Schmidtke owed $347.80 in filing fees and judgment interest. That amount appears to include a $200 civil fine that the Minnesota previously recommended against pursuing, since collecting it would not be cost effective.

Since Mr. Powers's post and my tentative response on Friday, some commenters have generously suggested that...

1. the documents may refer to a different Clark Schmidtke,
2. neither of the documents refers to the final disposition of the cases, and
3. such court records are unwanted distractions from the discussion we should be having about the right policies for District 8 and South Dakota.

To the first, I say that I am sufficiently confident that the Clark Schmidtke in the above legal documents and the Clark Schmidtke running for District 8 Senate are the same man. Candidate Schmidtke is from Minnesota. He ran for Minnesota state legislature. He works in assisted living/senior care. The overlap satisfies me to accept the association between our candidate and the Minnesota documents.

To the second, I agree that the two documents do not tell us the whole story, let alone the final outcome of these cases in Minnesota. I have Facebooked and e-mailed Mr. Schmidtke and await his filling in of that story. I have not heard back, although I have received an invitation to hear from Mr. Schmidtke in person at tonight's Moody County Democrats meeting. I will, alas, be unable to attend, so other bloggers are welcome to scoop me.

But permit me this snark: if I were running for office, and some blogger connected my name with past criminal activity with just eleven days left before the election, I wouldn't wait four days to stomp out the fire. Knowing past issues could bubble up in opposition research, I'd be online immediately with either, "It ain't me!" or "I was framed!" or full disclosure of what I did, why I did it, why I am deeply deeply deeply sorry I did it, and why I am still the better choice for the office I'm seeking.

And to the third: yes, I would rather talk entirely about policies and voting records. On those points alone, Clark Schmidtke can mop up the floor with Senator Russell Olson. Every policy statement I've heard Schmidtke make, with perhaps the exception of his willingness to entertain the possibility of charter schools in South Dakota, is right on. Olson has a record of bad votes, wimpy votes, and Big Biz/Big Oil apologetics that are wrong for South Dakota.

Yet I believe past wrongdoings and interactions with the legal system are relevant to discussions of candidates' qualifications. When I ran for school board two years ago, the first question from a voter here on the blog was about my firing at the hands of the Madison Central School Board in 2001, a public employment matter that led to a board hearing and court appeal. (Add that to my three speeding tickets, and you have the full record of my interactions with the South Dakota court system.) More people than I have pointed to Kristi Noem's lengthy record of traffic violations, failures to appear in court, and arrest warrants, not to mention her subsequent unapologetic self-justifications, as indications of her unfitness for high office.

Forgery and failure to follow campaign finance rules are significant crimes. I cannot ignore the association of candidate Clark Schmidtke with such crimes.

Russell Olson, Republican incumbent candidate for South Dakota District 8 Senate

And thanks to Mr. Powers's raising of the issue, I can no longer ignore Russell Olson's record of interaction with the South Dakota judicial system. Following is a list of some South Dakota court cases involving Russell D. Olson, a.k.a Russell Donovan Olson, Russell Dean Olson, and Russell Olson. The information comes from a record search conducted on October 23, 2010:

1. Docket #39399M0702111: Municipal speeding, 25 mph in a 20 zone, Madison, Lake County, 11/28/2007. Pled guilty by POA 1/10/28, paid $69.
2. #39399M0601101: County speeding, 65 in a 55, Lake County, 7/26/2006. Pled guilty by POA 8/24/2006, paid $76.
3. #32399M0502504: Municipal speeding, 55 in a 35, Pierre, Hughes County, 12/19/2005. Pled guilty by POA 1/6/2006, paid $119.
4. #50399M0201111: Speeding other roadways, 70 in 55, Moody County, 5/20/2002. Pled guilty by POA 6/10/2002, paid $91.
5. #07399M0100396: Open alcoholic beverage container accessible in vehicle, Brule County, 6/22/2001. Pled guilty by POA 7/19/2001, paid $86.
6. #17399M9802737: Failure to make proper stop, Davison County, 12/11/1998. Pled nolo contendre; disposition: stipulate to facts, found guilty 1/19/1999, paid $78.
7. #50399M9800546: Speeding other roadways, 75 in a 55, Moody County, 5/2/1998. Pled guilty by POA 5/20/1998, paid $100.
8. #17399M9502117: Speeding, 68 in a 55, Davison County, 11/13/1995. Pled guilty by POA 11/22/1995, paid $70.
9. #13C95000220A0: Speeding, 33 in a 25; Fleeing from police; Clay County, 5/11/1995. No plea to either charge, both charges dismissed on motion by prosecutor; pled guilty by POA to careless driving, 9/5/1995, paid $75.
10. #13C94000333A0: Simple assault, Clay County, 10/9/1994. Warrant issued 11/8/1994 for Failure to appear; no plea to original charge, charge dismissed on reduction; pled guilty to Disorderly conduct 11/15/1994, paid $200.
11. #49399M9323207: Speeding, 75 in a 65, Minnehaha County, 8/13/1993. Pled guilty 9/17/1993, paid $60.
12. #49399M9323208: Open alcoholic beverage container accessible in vehicle, Minnehaha County, 8/13/1993. No plea; dismissed on prosecutor's motion 9/17/1993.
13. #50399M9300227: Speeding, 65 in a 55, Moody County, 3/8/1993. Pled guilty by POA, paid $50.
14. #50399M9101291: Disorderly conduct, Moody County, 6/15/1991. Pled guilty 7/31/1991, paid $50.
15. #50C91000127A0: Having an altered or invalid license in possession, Moody County, 6/15/1991. Pled guilty 7/31/1991, paid $120. Incarcerated to local jail for 30 days consecutive with 30 days suspended; conditions: pay fine and costs, obey all laws for one year.
16. #13399S9001361: Possession of alcohol by minor, Clay County, 5/6/1990. Pled guilty by POA 7/18/1990, fine of $50 ($40 suspended), costs of $15.
17. #13399S9001369: Possession of alcohol by minor, Clay County, 5/6/1990. Pled guilty by POA 7/18/1990, fine $50, costs $15. [This record appears to duplicate the preceding record.]
18. #50399M8900259: Possession of alcohol by minor, Moody County, filed 2/13/1989. No plea entered 2/22/1989; dismissed by motion of prosecutor 2/21/1990.

Official documents indicate that Clark Schmidtke wrote two illegal checks for $1500 and owed the state of Minnesota about $350 for state campaign finance law violations (maybe $200 more... but I'm unclear on the wording of one of those documents). Official documents indicate Russell Olson has incurred around $1300 in penalties for a string of criminal offenses in South Dakota.

We will elect one of these men our state senator from District 8 next week. Voters, I welcome you to share how you reason out which of these men to vote for... or whether to vote on the District 8 Senate race at all.

p.s.: South Dakota does not allow write-in votes... but one write-in doesn't negate your votes on the other races.

District 8 Campaign Finance: Russell Olson Backs Jason Bjorklund

In the South Dakota pre-general campaign finance reports were due in Secretary of State Chris Nelson's office Friday. I turn first to District 8 State Senator Russell Olson's filing and find he's backing "Independent" District 8 State House candidate Jason Bjorklund. Olson's treasurer Scott Delzer apparently doesn't know how to spell Bjorklund: line 7 of the list of contributions to other candidates reads "Bjorkland for House."

I checked: I don't see any Bjorkland running for state house.

The $300 donation from the Olson campaign to the Bjorklund campaign, along with comparable contributions from notable Madison Republicans Jerry Prostrollo and DeLon Mork, supports Patricia Stricherz's contention that the Independent candidate isn't as Independent as he might claim. Strizherz is the only official Republican on the District 8 House ballot. Stricherz has received no money from fellow Republican Olson. (Sec. Nelson has not yet posted Stricherz's pre-general filing.)

Update 2010.10.25 17:43 CDT: Candidate Stricherz informs me that she has received $565 in contributions: $150 from the Lake County GOP, $100 from the Olson campaign, $100 from the Dan Lederman campaign, and the rest from family and 2 PACs. Neither Olson's nor Lederman's filings record these contributions yet.
Update 2010.10.30: Filing received on the 28th confirms Russ's and Dan's donations. Note: Russ gives three times more to the "Independent" than to the official Republican.

Bjorklund has also received money from notable Madison Republicans Jerry Prostrollo and DeLon Mork.

Olson's $300 for Bjorklund exceeds the $250 contributions Olson gave to some of his Senate colleagues and the $150 he tossed Dusty Johnson's way. Perhaps Olson and Bjorklund share a love of Glenn Beck. (But hey: Stricherz loves Glenn Beck, too.)

So here's a question for the candidates' forum on Thursday: let's ask the District 8 Senate candidates which District 8 House candidates they support and why. Let's ask the House candidates the same thing about their pick for Senate.

------------------------------
Alas for the local economy: Russell Olson is only raising and spending about half what he did in 2008. Jon Hunter must be disappointed. The other candidates aren't packing big balances, either. The figures for our District 8 candidates:

Name	Contributions	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
Sen. Russell Olson	$33,473	$28,061.03	$11,752.12
Clark Schmidtke	$2,150	$1,848.19	$301.81
Rep. Mitch Fargen	$22,499.95	$19.135.77	$4,996.82
Rep. Gerald Lange	$1,575.00	$380.00	$1,364.55
Jason Bjorklund	$3,288.02	$3,227.98	$182.02
Patricia Stricherz	$666.00	$866.00	$0.00

------------------------------
I'm still investigating the criminal records of both of District 8's State Senate candidates, Russell Olson and Clark Schmidtke. Stay tuned... we may need a write-in campaign! Update: Got that taken care of.

GOP Machine Digs up Court Dirt on District 8 Candidate

Evidently Clark Schmidtke Sr., Indy/Dem candidate for District 8 State Senate, has aroused the worries of the Republican machine. When a challenger can stand and point to everything that is wrong about Russell Olson's voting record—handouts for Big Oil, failing to support education and health care—the Republicans respond not with policy but with character assassination. SDGOP mouthpiece Dakota War College has dredged up court documents from the 1990s in Minnesota saying that Schmidtke forged two checks, had a license for providing adult foster care recommended for revocation, and failed to file a campaign finance report related to his 1994 bid for Minnesota state legislature.

I await Mr. Schmidtke's comment on these documents.

I also look forward to the release of any and all court documents relating to the personal history of the Republican candidate in this race. Stay tuned.

Center for Rural Affairs: Keystone XL Wrong Solution for U.S. Energy, Prairie Economy

Hat tip to Great Plains Tar Sands Pipelines!

Remember that corporate claptrap our state senator Russell Olson (R-8/Madison) was spewing about why he voted to give TransCanada millions of dollars in tax refunds for the Keystone I pipeline so South Dakota could enjoy all sorts of economic and energy security benefits, even though North Dakota and Nebraska got the same benefits without giving away any such refunds?

Well, the Center for Rural Affairs weighs in on the pending Keystone XL pipeline to say those benefits don't outweigh the risks to our environment and our economic future. Last week, the Center for Rural Affairs declared its opposition to Keystone XL:

"America must focus on better approaches to securing the energy it needs by developing renewable energy, especially renewable approaches to fueling cars," said John Crabtree, Media Director at the Center for Rural Affairs. "We support developing clean energy resources that we have right here in Nebraska, like wind energy, not increasing our reliance on dirty, foreign energy that we have to pipe in from afar."

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that securing oil from tar sands and delivering it to U.S. refineries results in nearly double the greenhouse gas emissions as other oil delivered to U.S. refineries.

According to Crabtree, in the long-run, hybrid electric cars powered by renewable sources such as wind and low carbon biofuels will create more jobs and far greater economic opportunity in rural America while confronting the very real threat of climate change [Center for Rural Affairs, press release, 2010.10.12].

Crabtree cites TransCanada's willingness to cut corners with thinner steel and its strong-arm tactics against Nebraska landowners as further reason that Big Oil boosters like Senator Olson are putting the interests of foreign oil corporations ahead of the interests of rural America.

Olson and Bjorklund Quislings for TransCanada

Fargen, Lange, Schmidtke, Stricherz Recognize Oil Tax Breaks Wrong

KJAM asked our District 8 House and Senate candidates what they think of the millions of dollars South Dakota gave away to TransCanada this year as an incentive for building the Keystone pipeline (second question on each interview, minute or two in). The answers are instructive about who's looking out for South Dakota and who's making excuses for Big Oil.

Republican Senator Russell Olson offers no surprises with his passionate advocacy for Big Oil, saying the tax refund was "absolutely" good. He hews closely to the company line (TransCanada's and his boss's at Heartland Consumer Power District), telling us the Keystone I pipeline was an $800-million stimulus for South Dakota.* TransCanada is now the biggest property tax payer in the state, says Olson, pumping more money into school and county budgets than any other industry could. Every barrel of oil from TransCanada, says Olson, is one less barrel from petrodictators like Hugo Chavez. And TransCanada got $30 million less in refunds from Pierre than they originally projected. Olson says TransCanada has brought our state a "phenomenal amount of money," and the "economic benefit certainly outweighs the one-time $10 million rift that everybody is so worked up about."

That's a strong answer. Too bad it misses the point. Olson's Independent Democratic challenger Clark Schmidtke points out that we didn't need to hand out that $10 million in the first place. Both Schmidtke and incumbent Democratic House candidate Rep. Mitch Fargen note that neither North Dakota nor Nebraska offered such cushy tax breaks to TransCanada. If Russ's analysis of local benefits from the pipelines is correct (and I question even that), North Dakota and Nebraska got similar benefits for free. We could have gotten the same benefits and still kept that $10 million for education or health care or other local priorities, just as North Dakota and Nebraska did. Oops.

Schmidtke does answer the broader question about state incentives in general for economic development by saying he can support applying and even expanding these tax refunds to ethanol companies, since ethanol does more direct good for South Dakota farmers and workers. Fargen adds that the refund program TransCanada exploited was developed to support South Dakota's ethanol, soy diesel, and wind energy companies. He and Schmidtke agree that TransCanada's refund was a giveaway that produced few jobs for South Dakotans.

Posed the same question, incumbent Democratic candidate for House Rep. Gerry Lange doesn't hesitate to brand the TransCanada giveaway a bad idea. Lange recognizes the value of this tax incentive for the local energy projects for which it was originally intended, like the soy diesel plant. But that contractors' excise tax that we refunded to TransCanada is the same tax that hits school districts and counties when they build public improvements. Why, asks Lange, hit South Dakota taxpayers with that expense for building schools and roads and bridges, then turn around and give back millions to a foreign company for building a pipeline (which I will note gets no public use)?

Republican House candidate Patricia Stricherz (who, yes, is currently a paying advertiser here on the Madville Times) is just as forceful and unhesitant as Lange in saying the TransCanada tax refunds were "Absolutely not" a good idea. She notes that TransCanada has already had leaks in South Dakota and says companies that want to come here should have to prove themselves worthy.

So where does that leave Independent/9-12 candidate for House Jason Bjorklund? Let's read the transcript of his response to the question:

Admittedly I'm not entirely up on TransCanada. I haven't been in the Legislature obvioulsy, so I'm not privy to all the information they've had, but as far I understand this is a done deal and at this point there's nothing we can do about it. Do I think this is best way to bring buinsesses and jobs to South Dakota? No, not necessarily. We need to look at ways to encourage businesses to come here without spending the... limited resources that we have. Now this TransCanada thing it appears to be a done deal, they've got the money, there's nothing we can do at this point but sit back and look at the numbers how many jobs did it create in the state, was this a good move for us to do, and keep that in mind as we make future decisions [Jason Bjorklund, interview with Lauri Struve, KJAM Radio, 2010.10.13].

Here Bjorklund has a golden opporunity to put his 9-12 Project principles into action. He could rail against wasteful government spending and crony capitalism. He could show that he can translate the slogans he gets from national talk radio into real solutions that put South Dakotans first. Instead, he hems and haws and provides more cover for the Republican regime in Pierre than the declared Republican on the House ballot offers. Not necessarily... it's over and done... there's nothing we can do about it....

Bull-roar. A legislator not beholden to the GOP or Big Oil could do lots about it. He could declare it bad policy and a waste of money, as Schmidtke and Fargen do. He could point to other priorities where the money would be better spent, as Lange does. He could highlight the dangers posed by the pipeline, as Stricherz does. He could look ahead and vow to repeal the refund for the Keystone XL pipeline and recoup the money with a pennies-per-barrel pipeline tax (a good idea that Senator Russ Olson killed this year).

Schmidtke, Fargen, Lange, and even Stricherz are making clear that, on this issue, they recognize that we should put South Dakotans ahead of foreign oil corporations. Olson is proving once again that he's in the pocket of Big Oil. Bjorklund is hinting that he's more interested in covering for the mistakes and corporate giveaways of the Republican machine in Pierre than in challenging the powers that be and sticking up for average South Dakotans.

Olson-Bjorklund: The TransCanada Ticket

*So if Kristi Noem can look at South Dakota's current economic situation and say the federal stimulus failed, can we say Olson's imputed "TransCanada stimulus" also failed?

KJAM Features District 8 Senate Candidate Video Interviews

I told you yesterday about KJAM's new District 8 House candidates YouTube interviews (now complete with Patricia Stricherz's turn at the webcam!). Now KJAM follows up with its District 8 Senate candidate profiles. Here's your daily Russ Olson fix:



Clark Schmidtke is sure to follow... as soon as KJAM finds a camera tall enough to capture him!

Now when will the Madison Daily Leader decide to go multimedia?
-------------------------------
Update: And here's Clark!

Politician to Watch: Mitch Fargen

Republicans have occasionally referred to District 8 legislator Russell Olson as their next big up-and-comer. I think I've even heard the term "golden boy" used to refer to this beneficiary of Janklow-Prostrollo patronage.

Mitch Fargen (D-8/Flandreau): Man on the move!

I would suggest that the next big thing to come from District 8 is less likely our Republican State Senator and more likely our Democratic State Representative Mitch Fargen. Read his formal candidacy announcement in Friday's MDL, and you'll see a campaigner on the climb.

Senator Olson has spent two terms in the Legislature bragging that his job isn't to pass lots of legislation. That sounds like a hired man on the farm saying his job isn't to shovel a lot of cowpoop. When Olson does deign to put forward a bill, it's an edge-nibbler like the amazing LAIC-bingo bill.

Meanwhile, Representative Fargen has spent his freshman term getting to work on important issues like ethanol blender pumps. Work like that has sent Fargen on a sharp upward trajectory in the party. He was working hard at the convention in June, lining up candidates for campaign training sessions. He sounds like he's spending as much time helping other Democratic candidates as he is knocking on doors for his own race.

Fargen is building a valuable role for himself in the party. Local and state Republicans, if you're not nervous, you should be.

District 8 Poll: Schmidtke Edges Olson; Fargen and Bjorklund Top Lange and Stricherz!

Well, that's interesting. The latest Madville Times poll asked you, eager readers, whom you'd like to see as state legislators from District 8. The results:

District 8 State Senate:

Russell Olson	70 (50%)
Clark Schmidtke	71 (50%)

Votes: 141

District 8 State House (voters pick 2!)

Mitch Fargen	79 (58%)
Gerald Lange	47 (34%)
Patricia Stricherz	20 (15%)
Jason Bjorklund	69 (50%)

Votes: 137

As usual, margin of error on a Madville Times poll is roughly equivalent to how far Russ's average drive from the tee. But what might we read in these numbers?

We might deduce that the younger candidates have an advantage in Internet polling. But my man Clark has a good 20 years on Russ, and he still managed to tie the incumbent with a quick get-out-the-vote campaign. Keep knocking on those doors, Clark!

Glenn Beck fans are not of one mind. Jason Bjorklund's most significant political activity has been organizing the Madison branch of South Dakota's 9-12 clubs. Patricia Stricherz has attended those 9-12 meetings. Bjorklund broadcasts Glenn Beck's 9-12 credo on his campaign website; Stricherz has sworn her allegiance to said principles on this blog. Yet Bjorklund gets more than triple the support Stricherz does among the readers of this fair blog. Are the Glenn Becksters in our midst divided? Or could the Madville Times readership actually skew Independent?

The Senate numbers haven't moved much since I conducted the Lake County Dems straw poll at the end of July. On the House side, Fargen stayed on top, while the Bjorklund surprise got even stronger. Evidently Gerry's friends are much more likely to walk up to a Dems table downtown, while Bjorklund's boosters are much more Web inclined.

We know anyone taking on Russ faces an uphill battle against one of the biggest campaign war chests in the Legislature. Mitch looks safe: he's young, he's likable, and as far as I know, the only thing he's done to torque anyone off is co-sponsoring the Blog Control Acts (and I might be the only person in District 8 who noticed). Patty has yet to show any sign of advantage built from being a GOP standard-bearer in 2008. The real battle in the House may be for second place between veteran Gerry and the crafty and motivated Jason. Bjorklund is clearly getting a jump on hustle: he beat all of the District 8 candidates to getting billboards up around Madison, and we saw Bjorklund signs up on Highways 25 and 37 on the way to the State Fair. Bjorklund's hustling; it's time for the rest to catch up!

Stay tuned for more polls, including the only surveys and analysis anywhere on our local races!

New SDPB Video from District 8 Senator Russell Olson

SDPB is getting more videos up from the candidates for the Legislature. Among the latest, my favorite Republican to vote against, incumbent District 8 Senator Russell Olson:



Now remember, fellow voters, Republicans tell us we can't vote for anyone who needs a teleprompter to express his basic beliefs.

This morning's harassment from the peanut gallery:

1. Russ says he currently has the pleasure of serving District 8, but you wouldn't know it from the anxious, arguably dour line of his lips. He was probably just thinking, "Madville Times is going to post about this. I just know it. That big meanie!"
2. The good senator says he's not interested in passing lots of bills, but the ones he does propose have a high rate of passage. Sure... it's just too bad the bills he proposes are mostly edge trimmers or laughers like the LAIC-bingo bill (hey, it's been a month already—when's Dwaine calling numbers?).
3. Russ is on top of the big E's for election: economic development, education, and "energy development." Note that's not renewable energy, just energy. That's code to his Big Oil friends that he'll keep voting for corporate welfare for them.
   

Credit to Russ at least for getting ahead of the crowd: none of our other District 8 choices are online at SDPB yet. Stay tuned!

First Primary Night Win: Clark Schmidtke Files Indy to Beat Russ Olson!

Clark Schmidtke, Sr., of Trent, Independent candidate for South Dakota District 8 Senate, and Trudi Nelson of Madison. Trudi is 5'2"; Clark is not.

Five minutes until West River polls close, so no results yet... but the Secretary of State's office has already provided District 8 voters a nice early present: Clark Schmidtke, Sr., of Trent has officially made the ballot to run as an Independent for State Senate against incumbent Republican Russell Olson of Madison.

You may recall that Schmidtke failed to make the ballot as a Democrat back in April after a volunteer sent his petitions to Pierre certified instead of registered mail. No such blooper this time: Schmidtke is in to win!

(Note also that I spelled Schmidtke's name wrong back in April. My apologies, Clark! And thank you for bringing yet another orthographic challenge to the general election!)

Tea Party friends, don't let tonight's results dishearten you. I'll expect you to be at the polls in November to exercise your anti-incumbent fervor and replace GOP establishment lapdog Olson with a new voice: Clark Schmidtke!

BP Makes Hunter Queasy about Pipelines

Last year, MDL publisher Jon Hunter gave thanks for the TransCanada Keystone pipelines. In light of the BP oil disaster, our man Hunter is now sounding a more cautious tone:

In general, we think the oil pipelines are good projects. We've generally believed the pipeline operators when they say they have sensing equipment and mitigation procedures in place in case something goes wrong.

But when our trust was broken for the offshore drilling containment measures, we now feel we need to question the pipeline operators, too.

There are three main issues to be addressed: equipment, procedures and resources [Jon Hunter, "Gulf Oil Spill Creates Worries for S.D. Pipelines," Madison Daily Leader, 2010.06.02].

Hunter expresses the hope that regulators and others will work with pipeline owners to make sure any leaks are addressed quickly and effectively.

I wonder what Senator Russell Olson would have thought of such advice last winter when he voted to kill the pipeline tax that would have created an environmental fund to address pipeline accidents, or when he voted to give TransCanada a tax break eight times larger than the amount he shorted K-12 education in the state budget.

Madison Main Street GOP Endorse Daugaard

Looks like Madison's chiropracty cheese stands alone. The Madison chiropractor Doug Caron has endorsed GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott Munsterman with signs out front of his practice and home. Fellow backcracker Jason Evans is the Madison pick-up point for Munsterman signs. [Thanks, Rod, for the correction!]

But now the Madison GOP establishment is speaking, and the word is, Vote for Daugaard. Our own District 8 Senator Russell Olson signed on to the lengthy list of legislators liking Dennis issued published yesterday by Team Daugaard.

That list also includes former local legislator and Board of Regents member Richard Belatti. The man who replaced Belatti as Madison regent, Randy Schaefer, is also sporting a nice Dennis sign out front of his strip mall (as Rod points out below, right in front of Evans's office).

The Madison Main Street establishment are in the incumbent administration's pocket. They're also a relatively cautious bunch. These endorsements signal they are pretty confident that their guy Dennis is going to win the primary.

That endorsement from the powers that be is almost enough to make me want to switch registration and join Caron and Evans in voting for Munsterman.
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Worth noting : 32 of the 46 state House Republicans endorsed Daugaard. Eight out of the 22 GOP Senators were willing to stick their necks out for Daugaard over their own majority leader.

Russell Olson Wins Re-Election by Mail Mix-Up

I was all excited to announce that District 8 Senator Russell Olson would have a Democratic challenger this year. Last week, at the last minute, my wife and I and eighteen of our Madison neighbors signed a petition for Clark Schmidke from Trent to run for the State Senate. (Politicians from Trent make me jumpy, but we'll take what we can get.)

With bated breath I watched the Secretary of State's candidate list, just waiting for the District 8 challenger to pop up. Waiting, waiting... what gives?

Today I learn the Secretary of State's office received petitions, but one of them was sent certified mail instead of registered mail. That petition is thus null... and Russell Olson gets a free pass to another term in the State Senate.

That's two petitions I've signed into oblivion this year. Grrr. If you see me grumping about town today, please understand, I'm having a cranky primary season.

Russell Olson Votes to Zero Increase for K-12 Funding

District 8 Senator Russell Olson voted this afternoon to set school funding back for years to come. He joined the slimmest majority in a 18–17 Senate vote to approve Senate Bill 22 and change South Dakota law to deny our public K-12 schools the 1.2% funding increase they'd been promised.

District 12 Senator Sandy Jerstad expresses my sentiments best:

"I don't know how you're going to go home and face your principals, your superintendents, your teachers, and all the parents. Do you have any parents in your district, any grandparents in your district? Can you smile and say, 'Yeah, we didn't think education was that important this year, so we didn't give you anything this year. We've got other priorities,"' Jerstad said. [quoted by Ben Dunsmoor, "Heated Debate on Education Funding," KELOLand.com, 2010.03.12]

Senator Olson will be home for a couple weeks now before the Legislature passes the final state budget. Ample opportunity for his friends in education to call, write, and visit to hear him explain why education is not his first priority.

Or maybe Russ just figures the LAIC hold a bingo fundraiser for the schools.

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Remember: SB 22 goes further than even Governor Rounds wanted, including disabled students in the funding formula reduction. Perhaps the Governor can seize this opportunity to wield the veto and give the Legislature a chance to reconsider its vote in light of two weeks of conversations with us folks back home.

Senator Olson was alone in District 8 supporting this destructive plan. Reps. Fargen and Lange both voted to protect education. Other votes of interest among statewide candidates:

• Voting for SB 22 and against education: Reps. R. Blake Curd, Kristi Noem, Tom Deadrick; Senators Jason Gant and Gordon Howie.
• Voting against SB 22 and for education: Senators Julie Bartling, Scott Heidepriem, David Knudson, and Ben Nesselhuf.
  

Russell Olson's Greatest Legislative Achievement: Bingo at LAIC

Senator Russell Olson (R-8/Madison) can celebrate his greatest legislative victory yet: yesterday Governor M. Michael Rounds signed into law HB 1095, which allows economic development corporations to conduct bingo and lotteries. Senator Olson was primary sponsor.

Yay.

Since job creation isn't working, the LAIC can turn to gambling to build Madison's economy. Maybe the LAIC will convert the old Wenk's plant across the street into a city bingo parlor. Dwaine Chapel can get an old-time saloon keeper's suit and call the numbers. Julie Gross can line up some Chamber members to dress up as showgirls and serve drinks. We can all go downtown and have more fun on Friday night.

All thanks to the hard work of our state senator.

Russell Olson Protects Small Schools, Helps Kill Open Enrollment Penalty

Every now and then, Senator Russell Olson (R-8/Madison) pays attention to the Madville Times and votes right. Today's case in point: Senator Olson joined a majority of his Senate Education Committee colleagues yesterday to kill HB 1150. On a 6–1 vote, the committee sent to 41st day oblivion a bill that would have reduced the amount of state aid smaller schools receive for each student who open enrolls from a larger school district.

Big-city Republicans like R. Blake Curd backed this bill in what can only be seen as an effort to punish small schools for luring students and dollars away from their bigger neighbors. Senator Olson made the right call this time, following the lead of his local Democratic House colleagues Reps. Fargen and Lange to support school choice.