Candidates on the South Dakota GOP Platform, Part 1

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With the election coming up in South Dakota and a large crop of Republicans running for the state’s many legislative seats, people are interested in whether these representatives can be relied on to uphold Republican values and principles. As we saw last year and in previous years, “Republicans” don’t always behave like Republicans.

I sent out a simple questionnaire this weekend to all the legislative candidates for whom I had contact information, asking if they supported the South Dakota GOP Platform, and if they could not support the entire platform, to state which parts they could not support. I have already received some responses, and will post others as they come in.

I have no contact information for Nancy York, Lance Carson or Charles M. Turbiville and thus was not able to submit these questions to them. If you have an email address or contact form for them, please contact me through the “About” page on American Clarion.

When you talk to your candidates, let them know you’ll be watching their votes in Pierre in the 2017 legislative session, and will hold them accountable at the next ballot box based on whether or not they keep their word to uphold Republican principles.

This is the letter I sent to the Republican legislative candidates of South Dakota:

Dear Candidate:

My name is Bob Ellis and I publish the conservative news website American Clarion.

As a Republican watching a new election coming up, I and my readers are interested in understanding the commitment of candidates running under the Republican banner to upholding the Republican principles found in the South Dakota GOP Platform.

As a Republican legislator, do you pledge to uphold the entire GOP platform?

To be clear, this would include but is not limited to support of religious liberty (preamble, 7.2), support of limited government (preamble, 2.9), support of the free market (2.4), opposition to government health care (3.2), support of parental rights (3.7, 4.3, 7.1), local control of education (4.2), recognition of our state and nation’s Christian heritage (4.8, 4.9), opposition to taxes (5.1), support of fiscal responsibility (5.2), opposition to illegal immigration (5.11), support of the right to keep and bear arms (6.4), oppose the homosexual/transgender agenda (7.4, 7.6), oppose abortion (7.7-9), and support of the South Dakota GOP platform itself (5.14).

If you cannot support the entire GOP platform, what areas specifically can you not support and why?

I would very much appreciate the courtesy of your response. You can respond to [REDACTED].com. Thank you for your time and consideration.

These are the responses I’ve received so far, unedited, in the order they came in.

From Stace Nelson, running for South Dakota Senate in District 19:

I have read both the state and national platforms and pledge to uphold the conservative principles articulated in both.

From Kevin Jensen, running for South Dakota Rep. in District 16:

for all the reasons listed – I AM a Republican. I proudly wear the badge of conservatism.

I have read nothing in the GOP platform that concerns me in a negative way. As with any issue, the way a bill is worded is crucial to its support. One of my general areas of concern in the legislative process is unintended consequences. Too often a bill is signed into law only to have those consequences unveil themselves in application of the law. THAT, is one of the reasons I am running. I have a very analytical approach since my undergrad work was in information technology. When designing software systems you must consider all of the possible ramifications and potential user error. As a business owner, every decision I make must stand on its own and keep us moving forward.

From Drew Dennert, running for South Dakota Rep. in District 3:

Yes, I will support the Republican platform.

From Larry Rhoden, running for South Dakota Rep. in District 29:

I support the principles and philosophy’s spelled out in our party platform.

This article is printed with the permission of the author(s). Opinions expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the article’s author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of American Clarion or Dakota Voice LLC.

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Similar Posts:

• Candidates on the South Dakota GOP Platform, Part 2
• Endangered Species: The South Dakota Republican
• South Dakota GOP Platform Meetings
• Butte Co. GOP Adopts Resolution of Support for SD GOP Platform
• South Dakota Voter Registration Deadline Approaching

Bob Ellis has been the owner of media company Dakota Voice, LLC since 2005. He is a 10-year U.S. Air Force veteran, a political reporter and commentator for the past decade, and has been involved in numerous election and public policy campaigns for over 20 years. He was a founding member and board member of the Tea Party groups Citizens for Liberty and the South Dakota Tea Party Alliance. He lives in Rapid City, South Dakota with his wife and two children.

Bob Ellis

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