Native Sun News Today Editorial: It's time to exercise your right (and duty) and vote

Monday, May 14, 2018

It is high time to get down and register to vote

By Native Sun News Today Editorial Board
nativesunnews.today

June 5 is just around the corner.

That day is important because in South Dakota it’s Primary Election Day.

We have three candidates running for governor of the State. Kristi Noem, a member of the U. S. Congress, Marty Jackley, current Attorney General for South Dakota, and Billie Sutton, a South Dakota State Senator.

Noem and Jackley are Republicans and Sutton is a Democrat. After the June 5 Primary Election there will be only one Republican left standing and we predict that it will be Jackley. Sutton has no other Democrat running against him so he will automatically advance to the General Election in November where he will run against Jackley. At least that is the way we see it.

Sutton was a champion rodeo rider until a bad rodeo accident caused him to become paralyzed and he has been in a wheel chair ever since. Sutton did not let this accident stop him from doing the things he wanted to do. He ran for political office from his wheel chair and won. Sutton said last week that, “South Dakota needs to fight political corruption through changes such as limiting campaign contributions to candidates, reducing financial influence by lobbyists and making state government more open.”

And he has a strong point. The EB-5 scandal and the GEAR UP program that led to the alleged murder of 5 people. Jackley had not come up with a single conviction in the matter and yet he is being endorsed by police and sheriffs from across South Dakota.

Noem is spending money on ads showing what a great horsewoman she is and by touting the praise of Donald Trump. Jackley started to run ads of him seated on a horse also, but some letter writers started to tease him and Noem by saying the Jackley’s horse was prettier than Noem’s. Sutton has not been touting himself while seated in his wheel chair.

A Democrat has not been elected as governor of South Dakota since 1974. The Republicans have been in control for so long that politics in Pierre has turned into a Republican lovefest with all of them trying to cover their butts for the blatant way the Party has blocked so many laws voted on by the state’s citizens that would have brought some badly needed transparency to the government.

Some horrible crimes were committed in the EB-5 Scandal in in the GEAR UP theft of money aimed at assisting Native American students move on to college. Initiative 22 to reform state government was opposed by most Republicans. Kristi Noem stood alongside of the Koch brothers in opposing the attempted reform laws.