It's hard for me to resist Blazing Saddles quips when I post about South Dakota's congressional contest between incumbent Republican United States Representative Dusty Johnson and his Democratic challenger Sheryl Johnson.
After all, South Dakota in no way resembles Rock Ridge.
Fortunately, South Dakota Searchlight and South Dakota News Watch are covering this contest in depth. Laws week, I republished South Dakota News Watch's article, 'People need a choice:' Democrat Sheryl Johnson's improbable congressional dream.
Now there's more on Monday, At the South Dakota Searchlight, John Hult added to the Sheryl Johnson story in ‘Mom for Congress’ pins bid to unseat Dusty Johnson on message of pragmatism, public service:
Sheryl Johnson has never held political office. What she has done is raise her four daughters, manage retail operations and work in a public school.
That’s precisely why she thinks voters should check her name on the Nov. 5 ballot and send her to Washington.
She’s running as the Democratic nominee in a bid to unseat Republican Dusty Johnson for South Dakota’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The 61-year-old former Republican, who lives in Sioux Falls, has pinned her hopes for victory on her status as a mother with a range of real-world experiences. She says that makes her a better choice than an opponent whose career is defined mostly by political and government work.
Her campaign materials use the tagline “SD Mom for Congress.” It began as an offhand quip about her frustration with the U.S. House, its infighting and inability to find common ground.
“I said, ‘they’re behaving like a bunch of children. They just need a mom there,’” Johnson said. “And that’s kind of helped spur this idea of a South Dakota mom: The fact that there’s such division. It used to be that they could agree to disagree, make compromises and get along.” . . .
. . .Voters deserve a choice, she said, and a chance to vote for someone whose ambitions end with public service.
“My opponent, he’s a nice guy, but he’s running for governor,” she said, foreshadowing the 2026 race when Gov. Kristi Noem will be term-limited. “He needs money for his next election. So I’m not running to be a career politician. I don’t want to be there forever. I’ve got grandkids I want to enjoy someday. But if I could get in there, I’m not really beholden to anyone to toe the party line.” . . .
Read the entire article at the Searchlight. The online news venue pairs the Johnson article with Hult's Rep. Johnson answers criticism by pointing to record and private sector experience:
Republican congressman faces first Democratic challenger since 2018 on Nov. 5 ballot
Republican U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson and his political allies say the accusation that he’s a career politician is an empty one.
His Democratic opponent in the Nov. 5 election, Sheryl Johnson, bases the criticism on narratives that many South Dakotans have heard about the congressman.
His rise from a Republican upstart who hustled his way at age 28 to a seat on the Public Utilities Commission to becoming the state’s lone U.S. House representative has been thoroughly documented.
State- and national-level profiles of Johnson abound with familiar tropes: about his work ethic, his policy wonkery and the self-deprecating humor that had him comparing himself to teenage TV doctor Doogie Howser in the election night speech he delivered when he was first elected to Congress in 2018.
Johnson also frequently leans into a “workhorse, not a showhorse” narrative by chastising his fellow members of Congress for slinging mud instead of solutions. , , ,
Read about Johnson's record in the article.
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