Donald Trump easily won South Dakota with 61.8% of the vote to Joe Biden’s 35.6%; 261,043 to 150,471.
Democratic Party numbers are bleak. The state legislature is fully under GOP control. Far-right Republican Kristi Noem is governor.
Do Democrats even have a fighting chance in South Dakota?
The challenge
Republicans hold a major advantage over Democrats in the state. As of March 1, registered GOP voters were at 279,988 to the Democrats’ 158,508.
The state has a small population—only 884,659—of which 84.6% are white, 9% are Native American or Alaskan, 4.2% are Hispanic or Latino, 2.3% are Black and 1.5% are Asian.
It’s been over 40 years since a Democrat was governor, but only a decade since the state’s at-large House of Representatives seat was blue. And while the state hasn’t been close in presidential elections in nearly 60 years—last going to the Democrats in Lyndon Johnson’s blowout 1964 election—the state’s senators were both Democrats less than two decades ago.
“It’s definitely an uphill battle,” said State Rep. Jamie Smith. “It’s not ever going to be easy for us, but you gotta always believe that we’re going to do better and then try. That’s all we can do—and work hard.”
Democrats have an opportunity to grow their support, but as South Dakota Democratic activist Codylee Riedmann put it, there’s a number of challenges ahead, not least of which is the funding advantage the state GOP has.
“The Republicans are just so, so, so heavily funded through their trusts and lack of oversight,” Riedmann said.
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South Dakota
What party leaders say
There’s no other way to put it—2020 was a total blowout for the Democrats. The party elected the lowest number of Democrats to statewide office since the Eisenhower administration, with a 62-8 margin in the state House and 32-3 in the state Senate.
Smith told Blue Tent that the party’s small presence is working with what they have, and hoping that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
“We’ve got through the true test, a tough patch,” said Smith. “And we’re improving, getting organized.”
South Dakota Democrats’ acting Executive Director Nikki Gronli told Blue Tent that she had “no illusions that flipping South Dakota to blue is a big challenge.”
The party needs funding, said Susan Kroger, a consultant working with the party and the co-founder of progressive group LEAD South Dakota. Without money coming in, the efforts on the ground can only go so far.
Nonetheless, there are opportunities. South Dakota voters legalized medical marijuana last November with 69.92% in favor, and recreational marijuana with 54.18% in favor. That shows that the public is more amenable to progressive policies than to the party promoting those policies, said Smith, and indicates there’s a shot to expand Medicaid at the ballot in the future.
What activists say
Progressive organizing in the state is similarly weak. Funding is a problem for left-leaning groups in the state—many donors just don’t see the point.
Taneeza Islam, executive director of the rights group South Dakota Voices for Peace/Justice, told Blue Tent that groups in the state working for change are loosely affiliated with one another. The lack of resources on the part of the state Democratic Party means there are opportunities for these groups, she said, but they’re limited.
“We need to be figuring out different infrastructures to be able to do the work, because our party is not well-funded, and my understanding is that the DNC doesn’t fund or has severely cut the funding that it has received,” said Islam.
However, those groups can only do so much.
“There is limited statewide organizing happening,” Riedmann said.
Riedmann added that the longer Democrats ignore Native American voters, many of whom are active in the community, the longer the party will continue to run into trouble.
Natalie Stites Means, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, has run for office and been politically and organizationally involved in the community for years. Today, she helps run the group Meals for Relatives, which delivers home-cooked meals to people riding out the COVID-19 pandemic in Rapid City and its surrounding areas.
In 2019, when she ran for mayor of Rapid City, Means was unimpressed with outreach to the Native community.
“Our vote is not regarded very highly here or sought after,” Means told the Lakota Times.
Taking the Native vote for granted is a mistake, she added.
“We are the sleeping giant of the Great Plains,” Means said.
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South Dakota Demographics
The path to victory
Native American outreach is a big part of Gronli’s hopes for the party, she told Blue Tent. The party’s Oceti Sakowin Caucus is working on outreach to Native communities in South Dakota and is excited to get back out on the ground.
“There is a lot of energy and excitement there and with members getting vaccinated they are ready to get out in communities across South Dakota this year,” Gronli said.
Still, any victory in South Dakota is a long way off. Democrats are powerless in the state and have little to look forward to over the next few election cycles. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t glimmers of hope.
“The party organization is steadily growing,” said Kroger. “We’ll need more resources to accomplish our goals, and we’re hoping folks will understand the importance of intervening in red states with financial support.”
For all his doom and gloom, Riedmann sees a future in progressive politics in the state. He said he plans to run for office after finishing law school next year.
So does Smith. As a state politician, he’s invested in making sure there’s a big tent for the party.
“The Republicans in our state, I know there are some that are just extremely frustrated with the direction of their party,” Smith said. “That can help us.”
Gronli agreed.
“There is a movement in the Republican Party in South Dakota that is largely Libertarian and based on Trumpist policies,” Gronli said. “There are those leaving the Republican Party as more Libertarians have moved into and taken roles in the state GOP. The key to South Dakota going purple is outreach to those who see the Republican Party has left them.”
If Democrats invest in the party and progressive allies, there’s hope for some forward movement and more candidates.
“We need money, we have very little from outside sources,” Riedmann said, adding that Democrats can try to use Noem’s re-election fight in 2022 as a get-out-the-vote strategy.
“It’s time to capitalize on the excitement,” Riedmann said.
In order to ensure they take full advantage, however, Democrats need to invest time, resources and energy, said Smith.
“We need to make sure we’re running candidates all the way across our state,” Smith said. “We need to get people willing to come out there and do the work. Oftentimes, it’s hard to recruit that person because they know how hard it is to do the job that the legislators do here because of the numbers—but that doesn’t mean that can’t be done and we can be successful in areas.”
