Patricia Stricherz Makes History: First Female Legislator from Lake County

At some point, Patricia Stricherz may cease to amaze me. But not tonight.

My wife and I got to wondering when the last time was that Lake County elected a woman to the South Dakota Legislature.

That's a tricky question, and I welcome my fellow bloggers and commenters to contribute their research. For one thing, districts change, so we Lake County residents haven't always been in District 8. But a quick scan of the Legislature's archive reveals that Patricia Stricherz is the first woman from Lake County ever elected to the Legislature. Going all the way back to Charles B. Kennedy, who served two years in the Territorial Assembly, Lake County has produced 63 legislators, all male.

Now Stricherz moved from Moody County to the great rebellious part of Lake County known as Winfred just this summer, so we almost didn't get to claim her. Had she stayed in Moody, she'd have made history there, too: no lady legislators have ever had Moody County as their home address, according to the archive.

Now here's the stumper question: has Lake County ever been represented by a lady from another county in our district? Remember, districts change over time (and will again next year, as the Republicans recarve our fair state in an attempt to ensure their continued dominance at the polls), so figuring this one out will take a little historical review. No prize but praise and fame, but hey, South Dakota political trivia buffs: start searching!

Liberal Blog Helps Patricia Stricherz Beat Gerry Lange?

Patricia Stricherz offers the following statement on winning a seat in Pierre with her surprise second-place finish in tonight's District 8 State House race:

Thank you all very much. Tonight, I have been given a privilege that few have been given — the privilege of accepting the voters call to service as Representative for District 8 State House. I accept it with gratitude, humility and confidence.

Finally, a word to all District 8 House Candidates. You are all great men and ran a good and respectful campaign. You stood for something you believed in, the citizens of District 8 and the state of South Dakota, and did something about it. Because of this you have my respect and admiration [Patricia Stricherz, e-mail, 2010.11.02].

That said, I can't help wondering: did the Madville Times help Republican Stricherz beat my favorite Dem and neighbor Gerry Lange? Stricherz beat Lange by 124 votes. Her strongest margin over Lange was right here in Lake County, where she outpolled him by 380 votes.

Lake County is the Madville Times' core market. Stricherz advertised here. She campaigned here in the comment section.

And now, barring a remarkable recount outcome, she's going to be my representative in Pierre. Wow. I'm serious: Representative-Elect Patricia Stricherz is the biggest surprise I've had all night.

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.

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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

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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.

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?

SD Iran Divestment Bill Gets Branstad's Attention

Nice to see South Dakota showing some leadership (dare I say Leder-ship?). Republican candidate for Iowa governor Terry Branstad gives South Dakota and state legislator Dan Lederman a shout-out for the Iran divestment bill our legislature passed this year and says he'd like to see Iowa pass similar legislation:



District 8 House candidate Patricia Stricherz did some useful Facebook campaigning for this bill last winter. Now if I can just get her on board with energy security legislation....

No word yet from Ahmadinejad on how he will retaliate against us perfidious prairie infidels.
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Somewhat related: Stricherz is back on record opposing domestic oil barons as well. Yahoo!

KJAM Offers Video Interviews with District 8 Candidates

Hey! KJAM Radio is going all TV on us! Our local radio station is putting candidate interviews up on their YouTube channel. Right now, they have interviews with three of our District 8 legislative candidates: incumbent Democrats Mitch Fargen and Gerry Lange and Independent challenger Jason Bjorklund. (Patricia Stricherz, get down to the radio station and record yours!)

The Fargen and Bjorklund interviews are just audio with a nice picture, but Lange gets full video. (Hey, Matt G., nice job walking into the shot!)

Give these interviews a listen—you can bet I will... with commentary to come!

Gerry Lange on KJAM:



Mitch Fargen on KJAM:



Jason Bjorklund on KJAM:



Update 2010.10.14: KJAM has now added Patricia Stricherz:

Sneak Peek: Stricherz on the Issues

Patricia Stricherz, candidate for District 8 House, forwards the Madville Times her responses to a questionnaire from the Mitchell Daily Republic. Who am I to turn down a scoop on tasty policy questions? Here are the questions, candidate Stricherz's answers (verbatim, unedited), and my own commentary:

1. What qualifications do you possess to be a state lawmaker?

Stricherz: In 1992 I joined the Army, was deployed to Kuwait and was awarded the Army Achievement Medal for my work to generate new computer based files that would assist 24th FSB Company in easily locating and identifying each work order, their status and the parts ordered. After the Army I worked several years in Retail Management. In 2003 I felt I needed a change of employment and began attending the University of Sioux Falls working on my BA in Social Work. This decision came as a result of my time as a CASA Volunteer as well as a Foster Parent. My junior year I had to drop out to care for my husband, who was injured during his deployment to Iraq. The last two years I have been running a nonprofit organization that provides emergency services to the troops and the families they leave behind during deployments. This is where my heart is. Speaking on behalf of our military hero’s and their families. This position has allowed me to gain experience advocating on behalf of families, fundraising, speaking publicly, organizing, training new volunteers, working with the media, and so much more. Locating the best service providers for home repairs, appliance repairs and vehicle repairs has given me additional speaking experience. The overall day to day functions of running a business has given me additional experience in balancing budgets, applying for grants and approaching donors for financial assistance and in-kind goods.

2. Roads have become an issue this year because of extensive flooding causing a lot of damage, forcing some counties to seek opt-outs or wheel taxes. What action do you think the state Legislature should take to assist counties and municipalities with funding? What proposal would you introduce?

Stricherz: Roads are an important part of our infrastructure that allows for the organizational structures needed for the operation of society. Allowing for the funding needed for regular maintenance is a necessity, allocating funding for emergency repairs is a must needed priority. In balancing the state budget, funds must be set aside for times such as these that counties and municipalities are currently experiencing. Cutting back on unnecessary spending, cutting failed and unsuccessful programs will give some additional funding for infrastructure. In today’s society we can not afford wasteful spending in our personal lives, expecting this same standard for our government should not be any less required.

CAH: I am heartened to hear a Republican who remembers that we do need government spending to maintain the basic "operation of society." However, the standard line about cutting wasteful spending represents wishful thinking, not hard fiscal analysis and decision-making. We face a 100-million-dollar state budget shortfall. I do not believe the state of South Dakota is currently wasting 100 million dollars. There's a strong argument to be made (especially by the counties trying to pass opt-outs and wheel taxes) that we need to spend more to fix our flood-ravaged roads and failing bridges. Candidates need to tell us exactly which $100-million-plus worth of programs they plan to cut to cover the deficit and the increasing road repair bill... or they need to be honest as the counties are and say, "You know what? We need to pay our own way with tax increases."

3. Do you think education is under funded in the state? If so, please explain how you would increase funding and where the money would come from? If not, please explain why you think that way.

Stricherz: Education is the foundation of our economic development, and the future of South Dakota’s economy depends upon creating highly-educated young South Dakotans. Currently, education takes 31% of the states budget, we need to work on increasing that number to no less than 36%. South Dakota schools perform at a high level and produce high quality students, in order to maintain this standard we must view education as an investment and not an expense. Therefore, it is important to the future of our schools to provide for a yearly increase in the funding that is available, one possible solution would be to lower property taxes and equalized the funds available to schools for operations. Another option would be to find alternate solutions to the schools laptop program. The 2.9 million dollars it takes to fund this program could instead be used to boost general state aid to schools.

CAH: For a moment there, Stricherz sounds like my man for governor Scott Heidepriem, who recognizes the state is failing to shoulder its share of the burden for funding education. But then Stricherz drops back to cutting taxes, which returns right back to the problem of the state doing less and expecting locals to do more. Even the reallocation of laptops may cause the same problem: the state may withdraw its tech support (the state dropped expansion of the classroom laptop program last year), but local schools will have to pick up the tab... and making each local school do its own tech support may only increase costs. Still open for debate: whether those school-supplied laptops are essential for education in the first place....

4. Gov. Mike Rounds has asked that state agencies and departments prepare a 2012 budget that should include a 10 percent decrease. Do you support or oppose a budget decrease? If not, please explain why you think that way.

Stricherz: I agree with Governor Rounds proposal that state agencies and departments decrease their budget by no less than 10%. As I stated above, we should expect no less from our government than to live by the same standards as that of our states citizens.

CAH: Ah, there's a step toward closing the $100 million shortfall. But does that include Board of Regents? Department of Transportation? Highway Patrol and Corrections? Again, I don't believe there's $100 million in waste, so I want to hear the good programs the governor and our legislators want us to do without.

5. Other than education and road issues, what legislation do you plan to introduce next year if elected or re-elected?

6. What issues are occurring within your district that will prompt you to propose legislation to address them?

Stricherz: 5./6. Answered together: I oppose increases in sales and use taxes without significant cuts in current government spending, as well as oppose increases in property tax. During this time of recession it is irresponsible for our government to increase taxes adding burden to our struggling South Dakota families. We, instead should be focused to finding sensible solutions to the creation of jobs that would allow our South Dakota families to take care of themselves.

During the 2010 session, the state Legislature considered the “South Dakota Health Care Freedom Act” ( SB 137 ), as we learn more and more what this extensive bill contains, I believe it is as important, more than ever, to reintroduce this bill to protect our citizens from the mandated and regulated laws coming out of Washington, DC.

The security of South Dakota families is important, instead of cutting funding to our Police, Sheriff and Highway Patrol Dept.’s it is more responsible to increase funding. Without a strong security system, we are placing our citizen’s in undue harms way.

CAH: Dang—Stricherz is preaching Gordon Howie's nullification again. Can we just accept the health care law and work to improve it? Can Republicans just accept defeat and look for real solutions? I guess not.

And evidently Stricherz wants to exempt law enforcement from the governor's proposed 10% cuts. It's hard to argue with funding public safety... but again, there lies the challenge we face in squaring Republican tough talk on budgets with Republican tough talk on law and order. Government is not all waste: in South Dakota, government is mostly things we like and need. If our candidates spent less time railing about how bad and wasteful government is and instead focused on how necessary police, roads, and education are for our well-being, we might have an easier time convincing taxpayers to support the funding necessary to keep society running.

I still plan to vote for Mitch and Gerry here in District 8. Stricherz won't get my vote, not because she's Patty Stricherz, but because she sounds too much like Russ Olson and every other Republican. The South Dakota GOP says things we like to hear about cracking down on waste, supporting education and police, and not raising taxes. But they never offer a consistent and straightforward explanation of the fiscal realities of turning our fiscal wishes into workable policy.

District 8 Heats Up: Stricherz Scolds Bjorklund

The District 8 House race is heating up. All four candidates have signs up, including Gerry Lange's recycled, hand-painted plywood.

And now Republican candidate Patricia Stricherz is asking some hard questions about—surprise!—Independent/9-12 candidate Jason Bjorklund. I reprint the following from candidate Stricherz mostly verbatim, with minor edits and added hyperlinkage:

It has come to my attention that my opponent Mr. Bjorklund leans towards libertarian beliefs. Actually, the longer I get to know him the more it is clear he doesn't really know what political party he stands with. During conversations I've had with him he stated that he thought he was a registered Republican but when he went to vote found he was actually a Democrat (his words not mine). Now he is running on the Independent ticket but associates himself with the Republicans, attending the Lincoln Day Dinners, setting up signs alongside Republican candidate, etc. But Ballotpedia has him listed as Libertarian.

The one thing I have learned that is accurate is that he is a grand manipulator. He's good with words, but his actions are a little shady. We do not need a person such as this to represent us in District 8!

Another thing he has personally said to me is that he wasn't interested in running for office but his little group convinced him to. He also wasn't interested in heading up the 9-12 group, but again was talked into it. If it is that easy to talk him into things what will he be talked into if elected?

Until these past couple of weeks Jason was calling me regularly to ask campaign questions, how do you do this or that, etc. Now he won't even look at me when I see him. Why? Because he feels so guilty for the trash talk he has been doing about me, telling voters I am progressive or liberal, etc. So this is a perfect example as to how he uses people to gain what he needs to get ahead. We do not need people users to represent us!

It was my understanding that it is this very type of behavior from political leaders is what the 9-12 project fights against? How can you fight against something and yet display the same behavior? Does he actually live by the 12 values of the 9-12 project, or this just a facade as well?

1. honesty
2. reverence
3. hope
4. thrift
5. humility
6. charity
7. sincerity
8. moderation
9. hard work
10. courage
11. personal responsibility
12. gratitude

How about the 9 principles?

1. America is good.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my life.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
4. The family is scared. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
6. I have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
7. I work hard for what I have and will share it with who I want to. Government can not force me to be charitable.
8. It is not un-American to disagree with authority or to share mt personal opinion.
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

Get to know your candidates! what they say to the voters is one thing, what goes on behind the scenes is complelty different. Know their character, visit their personal facebook pages, look at their pictures, this clearly defines their mindset [Patricia Stricherz, e-mail to Madville Times, 2010.09.26].

I had expected both the Republican and Independent in the race to concentrate their fire on the two Democratic incumbents. Perhaps Stricherz, who in the only polling conducted on this race so far is running fourth, is working her way up the ladder, tackling third-place Bjorklund for his Glenn-Beck base first before taking on Fargen and Lange.

I was going to suggest we might see here a manifestation of the Republican establishment rejecting a Tea Party upstart, à la wicca-bunker and science-denier O'Donnell vs. Castle in Delaware. But the local GOP establishment doesn't have anyone in the District 8 House race. Stricherz is on their ticket again, but they certainly didn't rush to fund her last time around, and I don't see signs of that changing this year.

Perhaps the situation is just the opposite: Stricherz is suggesting that Bjorklund is trying to win the favor of local Republicans, while Stricherz remains the more independent, anti-establishment voice. Perhaps by November, we'll see Bjorklund is the Republican favorite, while Stricherz is the outside Tea-flavored insurgent.

Or maybe the local and state GOP will simply say, "It's District 8 House: who gives a rip? We can handle Mitch and Gerry."

Eager readers, you don't get better opportunities for juicy local punditry. What do you think is going on in the District 8 House race? Fire away!
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p.s.: Patricia, being called a progressive or liberal isn't trash talk, Patricia—it's a compliment! :-) I do understand where you're coming from... but I keep wondering if you might feel more at home with us Democrats....
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Update 2010.09.27 05:52 CDT: Candidate Bjorklund rousts me out of bed with a phone call to ask that I remove candidate Stricherz's above comments from public view.

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!

Stricherz Video: Prayer Drives Inaccurate Negative Attack

District 8's only Republican candidate for State House, Patricia Stricherz, offers this video via SDPB's Meet the Candidates page:



Kudos to Stricherz on bringing some enthusiasm and force to her presentation, as well as some good details on her support for Iran divestment and legislation to protect first responders' jobs (what? they don't already have that? what kind of a jerk boss penalizes an employee for being a volunteer fireman?). And on a personal note, I like the hair. (Of course, hair is not a voting issue: Stricherz's long locks won't win my vote any more than would Pastor Hickey's defiant whiskers!)

My Sarah Palin alarm goes off a little when I hear the decision to enter the race was made after "prayerful consideration." That sounds like code for, "The Lord told me to run! You have to vote for me; it's God's will!" But that's probably just atheist me being overly sensitive.

I do find it interesting that Stricherz's prayerful consideration leads Stricherz to go negative early. I don't have a problem with "going negative"—too many commentators and spin-sters use that term to dismiss what may be perfectly valid criticisms of a politician's record. But if you're going to go negative, you should be specific and be accurate. Play that tape again:

My opponent is a career politician quite set in his political ways. By repeatedly switching political parties, he has been allowed to stay in office for eighteen years [Patricia Stricherz, "Meet the Candidates" video, SDPB, 2010.08.11.

Hmm... just one opponent? Which one does she mean: Gerry Lange, Mitch Fargen, or Jason Bjorklund? Those of us paying attention know she means veteran legislator Gerry Lange, but voters just being introduced to the candidates and the race may have no idea which one she's talking about. If you're going to go negative, go full out. Say the guy's name.

Stricherz's text here also misleads. I'm not sure you can characterize any member of South Dakota's part-time Legislature as a "career politician." My neighbor Gerry didn't get involved in politics until he was in his 50s, after serving in the Army Signal Corps and making his living as teacher, professor, and farmer.

And as for "repeatedly" switching political parties, well, I think Gerry ran as an Independent once, but I'm not sure that counts as "repeatedly." What has really allowed Gerry to stay in office for so many terms has been his good public service and good relationships with his constituents.

I will grant that my neighbor Gerry may be "quite set in his political ways" on some issues. but if "set in your ways" is a reason to vote against someone, I can't wait to hear Stricherz advocate throwing out stuck-in-the-mud Republicans like Russell Olson, Roger Hunt, and Don Kopp.

Stricherz's video has its political stretch and spin, but it does show more polish than Stricherz's first political appearances in the 2008 race. It looks like she's ready to run harder this time around.

Stricherz to Run for State House on Glenn Beck Platform

Patricia Stricherz is saying she's running again for one of the District 8 seats in the South Dakota House of Representatives. Unfortunately, she's touting her candidacy on the local Glenn Beck club website. Stricherz joined the 9-12 Project last month.

If Stricherz's campaign will be based on the idea that "Glenn Beck rocks!" then we're all in for a rough ride. I thought conservatives had issues with folks getting their politics from celebrities.

I'd like to think she'll run better than last time. She's been boosting her profile with some useful projects like running the Operation Homefront South Dakota chapter and managing the "Stop South Dakota Iran Investments" Facebook group. If she wants to get back to issues like energy and the environment, then great! Let's have that discussion.

But if Stricherz wants to be the Glenn Beck candidate and builds her campaign around full-reserve banking, socialism, ACORN, and Pimp Momma (don't ask me; I'm just reading the agenda for the club's last meeting), then my Chamber of Commerce friends might want to find a couple Republicans to challenge her in the primary.

Stricherz Gets Bipartisan Support for "Stop South Dakota Iran Investment" Group

Patricia Stricherz has started a "Stop South Dakota Iran Investments" group on Facebook. That good Republican shares my view that our state government should not be investing funds in companies that do business with Iran, Sudan, and other state sponsors of terrorism and genocide.

The folks signing on to this group include a fair number of Stricherz's Republican friends, including Mr. Powers, who brought the Iran investment issue to my attention a couple weeks ago, and state Young Republican chair Kyle Jensen. But signatories include folks from the left side of the aisle as well, including myself and Matt McGovern.

State Representative Dan Lederman (R-16/Dakota Dunes) tells group members that he has a bill in works that will include the following:

Targeted divestment limited to foreign oil companies making substantial improvements to Iran's oil production infrastructure

Grace period for investment officers to divest for maximum return

Sunset clause in the event the company ceases prohibited activity or until Iran has satisfied United Nation and United Stae's call to halt funding terrorist organizations

Lederman's bill sounds like a better idea than Senate Bill 21, which is our investment fund managers' request that we citizens and our legislators keep our noses out of our business and not hinder their work with any "social investment" requirements.

Rep. Bernie Hunhoff (D-18/Yankton) offered divestment legislation last year that fell short by one vote in the Commerce Committee. Let's hope Lederman, Hunhoff, and the rest of the Legislature can work together to get it right this year and get South Dakota money out of Iran, Sudan, and other bad places.

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Read more:

• Randy Dockendorf speaks with Stricherz and Lederman in the Jan. 8 Yankton Press & Dakotan. Governor Rounds declines to offer an opinion (that would take leadership, wouldn't it?).
  
• Stephen Rosenthal of Sioux Falls reminds us of several South Dakotans killed by roadside bombs, the very sort of terrorist devices funded by money trickling into Iran.
  

Good News: Madison Arts Surge, Stricherz Supports Troops, SF Rations Flu Meds

Who says I never look at the bright side?

Arts Center to Open in Madison: The Madison Area Arts Council announces that it will open a Community Arts Center on November 1. They'll be at 106 Southeast 2nd Street, south of the Leader building. First they'll seet up an office for the organization and some public meeting space, then by spring get going with some classes and exhibits. Remake the city branding line: "Discover the Arts," indeed!

Stricherz Working Hard with Operation Homefront: Can't keep a good woman down—former legislative candidate Patricia Stricherz from the southern Moody County metroplex is busy running a new chapter of Operation Homefront, a national organization that provides support for families of deployed and wounded soldiers. They do things like help with auto repairs and utility payments, provide backpacks for school for soldiers' kids, and provide holiday meals and gifts. Stricherz says the South Dakota branch is finally moving out of her living room and into real office space—if you have any office equipment or furniture you could donate to help Operation Homefront set up shop, or if you'd like to help out in other ways, give Stricherz a call: 888-293-3775.

Of course, one could argue that the best help we could give Operation Homefront would be to eliminate the need for their services by bringing the troops home....

Free Market Shows Rationale for Rationing Medicine: In a demonstration of why free market principles don't work in health care, Sioux Falls docs say they aren't testing for swine flu. They aren't even handing out Tamiflu to everyone who wants it—also known as rationing. What? Did we turn into Canada?

No: the doctors are just practicing good, efficient medicine, with a dose of socialism:

"We're seeing huge numbers of patients presenting all across the region and it just doesn't make sense to try to test because we know it's there, it's widespread," Sanford Infectious Disease Dr. Wendell Hoffman said.

He says that means if you feel like you have the flu, it's a safe bet it's H1N1, which many can recover from without seeing their physician.

"Unless they're part of those designated groups that are at high risk for the complications of influenza, they also don't need to be treated," Hoffman said.

...Hoffman says there's one more thing the public should know. TamiFlu isn't widely available. And because health officials aren't really sure where this virus is headed and because we're early on in the flu season, giving the medication to only those who need it is crucial [Kelli Grant, "Why... Doctors Aren't Testing for H1N1," KELOLand.com, 2009.10.20].

The free market would lead to overutilization: underinformed citizens flooding clinics and inflating demand for goods and services they don't need. That demand would prevent some people who most need care from getting it, and that would mean more dead people. The free market also apparently can't produce enough of the irrationally desired product, Tamiflu (Gilead Sciences holds an exclusive patent on the drug until 2016). Thus, doctors have to step in and ensure that the drug is distributed on the basis of need rather than ability to pay... a nice little affirmation of socialist principle over free-market fundamentalism.

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Update 09:40 CDT: And some bad news/good news: The bad news is, no South Dakota Online broadcast today. The good news: the delay is because Ben Hanten got new gear! They're putting together new equipment and a new set and are aiming to broadcast tomorrow, Thursday, at 2:30 p.m. (New set? Rumor has it Ben's pals raided KELO's secret warehouse south of Rowena and liberated KELO's 1968 newscast set, complete with Terrace Park signs and the original 50 pieces of Dave Dedrick's ugly necktie collection.)

Abdallah Proposes Weakening Sex Offender Laws

If Patricia Stricherz is reading the news this weekend, she can e-mail me and say, "I told you so!" Stricherz, one of the GOP's unsuccessful legislative candidates here in District 8 last year, caught grief from me last October for saying one of her legislative priorities was to relax sex offender registry rules for juvenile offenders.

Now a Republican who manages to win elections, State Senator Gene Abdallah (R-10/Sioux Falls), is calling for making exceptions for juveniles and maybe others on the sex offender list:

"We're looking at the possibility of making exceptions to get off the list after a certain period of time depending on the seriousness of the offense," Abdallah said.

Senator Gene Abdallah is the chairman of the committee looking at the changes. Abdallah says some of the offenders on the sex offender registry don't deserve to be on it their entire life.

"We've had examples of 16 and 18 year olds dating, and he's considered an adult at 18, and she's not, and something happens and he gets on the sex offender registry and is on there for life," Abdallah said [Ben Dunsmoor, "Changes to Sex Offender Registry Considered," KELOLand.com, 2009.08.14].

Something happens... um, Gene, since when did you stop believing in free will and personal responsibility? This sounds dangerously like sexist (yes, check the senator's pronouns) boys-will-be-boys excuse-making. Just how well will "something happened" fly as an excuse for lighter sentences for other crimes?

More hilarity ensues as Abdallah tries to avoid headlines like mine:

Abdallah doesn't want to call it weakening the laws, he says he is still in favor of keeping some of the most serious offenders on the registry for life.

"I'm not in favor of weakening or diluting any laws when it comes to sex offenders or crime for that matter, but I do feel we should be fair," Abdallah said.

Being fair to some of those that are serving an online life sentence, on the sex offender registry* [Dunsmoor, 2009.0814].

I'm o.k. with fairness. I'm willing to have a discussion about whether we can fairly impose on certain criminals lifelong restrictions on where they can live and work. Maybe fairness does require weakening the law (although SDCL 22-24B-19 already spells out a number of criteria that allow offenders to get off the list). But Senator Abdallah does language and logic harm (once again!) with his clumsy word games. Right now, an adult having sex with a child is a sex offender. If Senator Abdallah wants to declare that such an adult is not a criminal, or is a less heinous criminal, just because the adult is dating that child or is in love with that child, then he should just say so and call his proposal what it is: a weakening of the sex offender law.

*Dang it, there's another one of those sloppy KELO sentence fragments!

Numbers: Campaign Finance in District 8

Campaign finance numbers for District 8 legislative candidates (all links to PDF docs on the most informative website in Pierre, courtesy of Secretary of State Chris Nelson):

Candidate	Total Donations (Direct and In-Kind)	Total Individual Donations, i.e. not from party or PAC (% of total donations)	Unitemized Individual Donations, i.e. $100 or less (% of indiv donations)	Amount of own money spent
Russell Olson	$59,984.25	$31,316 (52%)	$1,133 (4%)	$0
Scott Parsley	$34010.65	$25,860.65 (76%)	$14,260.65 (55%)	$0
Mitch Fargen	$15,740	$12,140 (77%)	$8,415 (69%)	$1,027.40
Jerry Johnson	$7,118.25	$5,900 (83%)	$850 (14%)	$526.16
Gerry Lange	$1,025	$175 (17%)	$175 (100%)	$3,091.45
Patricia Stricherz	$2,938.25	$100 (3%)	$100 (100%)	$0

Stricherz Posts Website: All District 8 Candidates Online!

Finally, a campaign website from District 8 House candidate Patricia K. Stricherz! I know that the Internet hasn't become a central part of campaigning in South Dakota state politics yet, even in our hundred-mile-long district. But for us bloggers, being able to direct readers to candidate websites is a great relief, an easy way for us to back up our arguments with a quick link that says, "See for yourself!" It may represent a watershed moment for local politics when all of our candidates for Legislature have fucntional websites. Forward the e-revolution! (Curious: how many districts in South Dakota still have candidates who haven't built websites?)

Stricherz's website is not as flashy as the standard-issue CreditSoup sites for fellow GOP House candidate Jerry Johnson and GOP Senate candidate Russell Olson. She also didn't go the route of her Dem opponent Mitch Fargen or Dem Senate candidate Scott Parsley, who both are using pre-built software (Facebook and Wordpress). Instead, Stricherz appears to be using a wholly home-built website, much like Dem House candidate Gerry Lange.

Stricherz's website could serve her campaign well: she finally publishes her rather compelling biography. Her issues page is all abortion, adoption, gays, and vets, which doesn't do much for outlining a practical legislative agenda on education, energy, and economic development but could resonate with some voters who haven't gotten to know her yet. Adoption and vets issues at least show Stricherz's desire to do real good for her neighbors, although I'm still unclear on what role the state legislature can take in vets issues when the federal government does most of the work there.

If I knew more people in District 8 were actually reading the Web, I might have to raise Stricherz's odds from 10:1 to 9:1. We'll see....

Grading the District 8 House Candidates: Patricia Stricherz

If Vegas took bets on the District 8 South Dakota State House race, they'd offer these odds:

• Mitch Fargen: 2 to 1.
• Jerry Johnson and Gerry Lange: 2.5 to 1
• Patricia Stricherz: 10 to 1.
  

I don't lay these odds lightly, especially the last figure. Believe it or not, this liberal Democrat blogger has had a number of interesting, engaging conversations with Republican newcomer Patricia Stricherz. I'm convinced she has a good heart and a genuine desire and ability to serve the public. I'm also convinced she's going to come in last in this election. She has the least visibility in terms of name recognition, advertising, door-knocking, and even online presence. At the two public forums I've attended where she has taken the stage with her fellow candidates, Stricherz has shown the least grasp of the various issues raised. That's not to say Stricherz doesn't have strong opinions, policy positions, and life experiences worth listening to; she simply doesn't have the same political sense her opponents do of which points to focus on or how to "sell herself" to the voters.

Consider Stricherz's response last Tuesday night at the Madison Chamber forum to the opening question, "What do you hope to accomplish during your first term?" This one's a freebie: tee up your favorite talking points, your big vision, and swing for the back 40. Fargen talks ethanol and education. Lange talks tax reform and education. Johnson talks funding and accountability in education. Stricherz talks about not making guys register as sex offenders for having sexual contact with young girls in their peer group.

Now Stricherz was trying to make a point (one worth discussing) about the need for the law to distinguish between real offenders and teenagers who aren't dangerous criminals. She likely knows some young people who've been hit hard by the law for doing something that maybe all parties involved feel didn't do any harm. I hesitate to even write that last sentence, for fear readers may get the wrong impression from what I'm saying unless I write a lengthy explanation. I don't want to write that lengthy explanation, because, honestly, there are bigger legislative fish to fry.

Stricherz acknowledged those bigger fish—energy, education, the economy—but insisted that leniency for young sex "offenders" is the "one issue" that "keeps coming up."

Um, I've done some door-to-door this year. No one has brought this issue up. I haven't seen press on it. I haven't seen blog posts on it. Stricherz is the only person I've heard mention it.

On the one hand, I admire Stricherz for using the public forum to bring up an issue that maybe isn't on everyone's radar and perhaps should be. But politically, it was a mistake. She takes an easy question, brings up a sensitive issue that needs more explaining than time allows, gives opponents an easy line to twist, and makes an implausible claim to boot.

Stricherz also got hung up on solar energy. An audience member brought the issue up at the AAUW forum a couple weeks ago. Interesting, but not a front-burner issue for most voters. Yet Stricherz made it a centerpiece of her response on economic development Tuesday evening. Again, maybe there's a plan brewing here, something that takes longer to explain than a two-minute response, but Stricherz came off sounding like one of my young debaters who gets caught off guard by a tricky argument and then devotes herself to briefing out that one argument, even though in the grand scheme of things, it's not a big voting issue.

Understand, I don't say these things about Stricherz out of any personal or partisan animus. As I said, I've had enjoyable and extended conversations with her. I think she would be a good legislator, maybe even my favorite kind of legislator, a maverick who won't let anyone boss her around and will truly stand up for the little guy. Unfortunately, the Madison Chamber of Commerce—oops, I mean, the Republican Party—doesn't like that kind of maverick. And even if they did, Stricherz hasn't figured out how to project that spirit, that passion for service, into the public persona of an effective politician.

Stricherz has some great ideas that need to be heard. Unfortunately, we aren't hearing them on the campaign trail, and Stricherz won't get to make those ideas heard in Pierre... at least not this time around.

Stay tuned: more to come on Fargen, Lange, and Johnson!

Madison Chamber Candidates Forum: Lange, Fargen, Stricherz, and Johnson

Round II of tonight's Madison Chamber Candidates Forum: our District 8 State House candidates! Here's my best summary (not a verbatim transcript, mind you) of what Democrats Gerry Lange and Mitch Fargen and Republicans Patricia Stricherz and Jerry Johnson had to say during the Q&A.

Question 1: What do you hope to accomplish during your first term?

• Fargen: Two things I really want to push for: last year, Rounds imposed a tax increase on ethanol blender pumps. That tax increase was unconstitutional since it didn't have 2/3 of legislature backing it. It was also completely against the effort to develop home-grown resources. I want to repeal that blender pump tax increase. We also need to find resources to pay for education, raise teacher salaries, and do it with a long-term solution, not a short-term fix like the Governor and Legislature have done the last few years.
• Stricherz: Energy, education, and the economy are big issues, but as I talk to voters, one issue keeps coming up: they're worried about young people having to register as sex offenders for having contact with young girls in their peer group. We need to discern between real offenders and children who aren't dangerous criminals.
• Johnson: On education, I differ with other members of my party. As a Madison city commissioner, I often questioned why the city had reserve accounts if it had no plan to use them? We need to look for ways to further the community. We should look at funding education with the reserves. We also need more accountability at state and local levels to use every penny in education wisely.
• Lange: It's difficult to win in a Democrat minority without reaching across the aisle. We must convince them our ideas are good. I've urged another tax system. North Dakota is far ahead of us, so are all other surrounding states. We need to focus on three things: education, education, education. The Finns saw education investment lift them from the bottom to the top of European economic development.

Question 2: With the threat of a slowing economy, how will you promote economic development in District 8?

• Stricherz: District 8 is a great district to live in right now. We have lots of opportunities right now. Let's promote continued agricultural development, energy development, other energy sources like solar.
• Johnson: We must look to regional resources like what's going on in Howard. I toured Howard several weeks ago; what's good for Howard is good for Madison, Woonsocket, etc. We should facilitate regional economic development, help all communities work together.
• Lange: After the election, we'll see change throughout the nation: expect New Deal type projects to make work on public infrastructure, funded through bonding or taxation to employ people in a grassroots effort to stimulate economy instead of trickle-down economics. We need lots of wind development; put turbines on school and public lands to help school funding.
• Fargen: We should be able to get a “Highway 34 Corridor” together to work together, encourage other businesses to come in and use the district's resources. Let's bring businesses, bring tech school programs here.

Question 3: South Dakota has a teacher shortage in secondary education. One solution: differentiated pay (more pay for secondary teachers than for elementary teachers). Your thoughts?

• Johnson: Last year the state legislature approved a package to increase teacher salaries. I don't necessarily agree with differentiated pay. Local districts have the opportunity to evaluate all teachers and decide what teachers should be paid. State Legislature and Department of Education should not decide. In the business world, better performance and more experience mean you get paid more. That's how local districts should be able to do it.
• Stricherz: I agree with Jerry. We all have to earn our pay. We may also need to consider whether diminishing enrollment means we need to combine three school districts into one. Do elementary in one town, middle school in second, high school in third. That would save money that could be applied toward higher teacher pay.
• Fargen: I'm against differentiated pay. School districts set salaries. We always want local control. The state legislature can set what we want the salaries to be, but local control is better. Let schools decide on experience.
• Lange: It's hard to work differentiated pay out with teacher's union. I've heard elementary teachers are more important in formative years; maybe we need best at lower levels. The teacher shortage is a problem because of lack of funds. I'd rather expand the opportunities for raising salaries the way other states have with a reasonable tax system that puts education first rather than skimping on it as we've done.

Question 4: Do you support a smoking ban in bars and restaurants?

• Lange: In theory it's good, but it's not viable in South Dakota with our attitudes toward individual freedoms and local control. A smoking ban would not be a wise decision.
• Fargen: I completely support that! Families need protection. Why infringe on families' right to be in that public area? We need to look at whether such a ban would apply on tribal areas, but I do support a smoking ban.
• Stricherz: I strongly oppose that idea. Business owners should be able to decide for themselves on how they treat their customers. It's not feasible for the state to dictate. Most restaurants and bars do good job of separating smokers and non-smokers; it should stay that way.
• Johnson: It should be up to city commission to decide [a joke! Jerry cracks a funny for emcee Mayor Hexom!]. Actually, I would oppose such a ban. Business owners should have the right to decide how they attract business (or don't).

More Commercial Political Speech in Madison; Russ Olson Gets Players Vote

Discover the Unexpected™ in Madison? Not at Prostrollo's All-American Auto Mall (or is it All-Republican?):

Randy Schaefer is also a proud supporter of his Republican District 8 Legislative candidates... well, two out of three:


And for my favorite juxtaposition of commerce and politics:

Punch lines are welcome (punch... they do serve punch at Players, don't they?).

District 8 House Candidates on the Issues: Analysis from the AAUW Forum

No, I haven't forgotten about the Madison AAUW District 8 legislative candidates forum; there's just been a lot of other news going on here in Lake County.

But I've been thinking a lot about what I heard and saw at the forum. This morning, let's look at the State House candidates. But first, if you like, feel free to peruse my commentary-free notes on the candidates' responses to the tough questions the voters gave them Tuesday night....

O.K., now some commentary!

We have four candidates running for the two District 8 House seats. In these four, we have about as much diversity as one could ask for in District 8:

• Democrat Gerry Lange: 80-year-old Air Force vet, farmer, history professor, and veteran legislator
• Democrat Mitch Fargen: 26-year-old SDSU grad, former student senator, now working at the Farmers Union
• Republican Jerry Johnson: 50-year-old trucking business owner, former Madison city commissioner
  
• Republican Patricia Stricherz: Army vet, social worker, grandma (and a lady whose age I'll leave her to publicize)

In terms of age, profession, schooling, and political experience, you have a little of everything. I'll let you decide (and discuss in the comments!) how those factors stack up in your book.

Let's look at how the candidates handled the questions Tuesday night:

On the energy questions, Gerry Lange enjoyed an advantage on the energy questions thanks to his experience as a board member at Sioux Valley Electric. Even on the solar power question, Lange had a ready answer, mentioning a report on villages in India where women are making small-scale solar cells for rural power. (To come up with something new to say after the other five candidates have already had a crack at the question is pretty good.)

Mitch Fargen was also able to come up with a specific answer on solar, saying that SDSU has just received Sun Grant funding to work on solar power. Jerry Johnson and Patricia Stricherz weren't quite as specific on this issue, though I'll admit, the question caught me by surprise, too.

All four candidates appeared to fall in line against the idea of the state mandating that utilities buy back excess power generated by alternative home energy sources, although Stricherz said tax breaks for solar would be a good idea.

The question on wind power appeared to seek evidence from the candidates of things they themselves have done to promote that form of alternative energy. That's a tough question, because hey, what have you done? The candidates' answered drifted more toward what we could do. Fargen said landowners need to share in the true value of wind projects, not just get some small rent from corporations (Fargen is no socialist, but he touches my rebel heart by putting just a hint of disdain on the word corporations). Johnson said we need to look at all forms of energy and encourage cooperatives, cities, and other groups to work together. Stricherz passed on the question.

Only Lange, the experienced legislator, was able to cite concrete actions that he's participated in to promote wind power. He cited the Legislature's abatement of the contractor's excise tax, a tax he characterized as one of our worst and a competitive disadvantage South Dakota faces agaisnt other states. A veteran of tax fights in the Legislature, Lange rightly identified the tax structure as one of the main tools the state has at its disposal to promote wind power.

Party politics didn't come up much during the forum, but on education, the candidates started sounding like Democrats and Republicans. Lange and Fargen both advocated directly investing more state money to reduce the debt students incur at university. Johnson cheered the status quo and suggested looking for grants and private donors. Stricherz said the resources are there and that we just have let our kids find themselves... an interesting and positive parental perspective, but not a clear sign of proactive legislative effort. It's nice to be a fiscal conservative, but as Lange noted, the GI Bill, one of the greatest investments in education in America's history, paid back $9 for every $1 invested.

The responses were similar on increasing wages in South Dakota. Everyone agreed that we need to encourage higher education. Johnson pointed to his work on creating and keeping jobs at the local level and said it's not easy when we're up against global market forces. But again, only the Democrats spoke directly of Legislative action to address these problems, specifically in terms of increasing investment in education.

On the Regents' paydate-switching scheme and the harm it do to retirees benefits, Fargen was able to drop names, referring to a conversation with Tad Perry himself about options to move retirement dates. Of course, moving one's retirement date may not sit well with employees who've already made their plans and given the state decades of service. Stricherz offered an alternative solution, phasing in the paydate switch for new employees (though I have a feeling someone in Pierre will say their computers will explode if they have to keep track of two separate paydates a month). Johnson remained agnostic, saying he needs more information, but Lange wasn't afraid to call the scheme a scheme, the same sort of "shell game" that has gotten Wall Street into its troubles.

So who won? Well, the questions and answers at this specific forum didn't give me cause to change my vote from Lange and Fargen. But there are a lot more issues than what we got to discuss in this one hour, issues the candidates may get to address at the upcoming forums:

• Tuesday, October 21: Madison HS, 7 p.m.
• Wednesday, October 22: Howard Legion Hall, 7 p.m.
• tentative: Tuesday, October 29: Chester HS (I've heard it's possible, but I don't have confirmation of date and time yet)

Keep reading, keep listening, and keep asking those candidates questions!