While Republican Party of Minnesota state leaders have the howling fantods about Doug Wardlow filing to run against endorsed Attorney General candidate Jim Schultz in the August primary, Minnesotans of all parties should be thankful the state's election laws allow primaries for all offices.
Such is not the case here in South Dakota, where on the state executive office level, only gubernatorial candidates can face primaries, while the parties pick Attorney General, Secretary of State, and such executive officer candidates, at their endorsing conventions for the general election.
Thus, it was up to the South Dakota Republican Party's endorsing convention later this month, the upcoming South Dakota Senate's impeachment vote, or the candidate himself--not the voters--to rid the Rushmore State's Attorney General of Jason Ravnsborg, killer of pedestrian Joseph Boever.
It's looking like the third option's the one. At Dakota News Now/KOTA, Austin Goss reported on Wednesday in Sources: Ravnsborg will not pursue re-election in 2022:
South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg will not run for re-election in 2022, regardless of the outcome of his Senate impeachment trial.
Ravnsborg first won the office in 2018 after winning in a crowded state Republican convention race. He would go on to defeat Democratic nominee Randy Seiler in the November general election.
Ravnsborg’s tenure as Attorney General has been marred by a September 2020 crash where he struck and killed pedestrian Joe Boever with his car near Highmore. He later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges that did not find him criminally responsible for Boever’s death. The South Dakota House of Representatives impeached him in April over the incident and the events that followed.
Ravnsborg did not respond to a request for comment on the matter. However, sources close to the matter tell Dakota News Now that since being impeached in the House, Ravnsborg has been telling Republican delegates and close confidants that he will not run for the office again in 2022, regardless of the outcome of the Senate impeachment trial later this month. . . .
At Dakota Free Press, Cory Allen Heidelberger concludes in Ravnsborg Won’t Seek Reëlection, Will Fight for Acquittal from Senate Court of Impeachment:
Ravnsborg’s written response is not yet available on the Legislative Research Council’s webpage for Senate Court of Impeachment documents (and for Pete’s sake, don’t pester LRC chief Reed Holwegner for those documents, because we know how hard it is for him to do his job when the public asks him over and over when he’s going to do his job), but his lawyer is going to have a pretty high hill to climb to demonstrate to the Senate Ravnsborg is not guilty of the two articles of impeachment. Ravnsborg did commit crimes causing the death of Joseph Boever, including driving outside his lane, and he did commit malfeasance in office following the death of Joseph Boever, including invoking his official title and misrepresenting the facts of the accident in his 911 call right after he killed Boever.
Ravnsborg has acknowledged that he can’t win an election. Now if only he had the moral fiber to admit he should not win his impeachment trial.
If Goss's report proves accurate, careful observers have seen the signs of a Ravnsborg retirement. Back on May 10 we posted Associated Press: Top aide's entry to AG race suggests Ravnsborg won’t seek 2nd term. Stephen Groves reported:
The director of the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation on Tuesday announced a bid for the Republican nomination for the state’s attorney general, setting up what will be a showdown of at least two candidates at the GOP convention in June.
David Natvig, who directs the Division of Criminal Investigation under Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, announced his candidacy in a video touting his work investigating drug trafficking. He will face Marty Jackley, a former attorney general who mounted a campaign to unseat Ravnsborg as he faced impeachment for his actions surrounding a 2020 car crash in which he struck and killed a pedestrian.
Ravnsborg was impeached by the House last month and faces a Senate impeachment trial shortly before the three-day party convention starts June 23. He has said the Senate trial is a chance for him to be “vindicated,” but has not said whether he will run for reelection if he is acquitted.
Natvig was appointed by Ravnsborg and was one of his closest aides. He represents a continuation of Ravnsborg’s team in the attorney general’s office.
“My plan is to take the success and hard work of the office of the attorney general and build on it,” he said in the campaign announcement video.
Jackley said in a statement that he has been traveling the state to earn the backing of Republican Party delegates, who will decide the nominee at the convention.
“I remain committed to running a campaign on experience and my proven record as South Dakota’s attorney general and U.S. attorney,” he said.
Now that Jackley's high profile client has been cleared in a state investigation of child pornography suspicions, think there'll be a heckova fair fight at that convention. Or something.
Related posts:
- Associated Press: Top aide's entry to AG race suggests Ravnsborg won’t seek 2nd term
- South Dakota News Watch: Political intrigue swirls around upcoming AG election
- Post-impeachment digest: Jason Ravnsborg sees redemption in the South Dakota Senate
- SD Attorney General Ravnsborg impeached by South Dakota House. Next stop: the state senate
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