Read more about Noem here:
Posted on 07/02/2010 5:32:26 AM PDT by randita
Herseth Sandlin Faces Best GOP Opponent Yet
By Anna Palmer, CQ-Roll Call
Republicans have unsuccessfully tried to knock off South Dakota Democratic Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin ever since she was elected six years ago in the rural, conservative state.
But with what could be a big Republican wave and an anti-incumbent narrative building — not to mention a strong GOP nominee in state Rep. Kristi Noem — party operatives believe they have the right mix of factors to beat the Congresswoman this year.
Democrats, meanwhile, are already trying to paint Noem — an anti-abortion, pro-gun, anti-gay-marriage conservative — as a right-wing partisan.
They also note that Herseth Sandlin survived a tough environment before, winning her first race in 2004, a very good Republican year.
But that was before she had a Congressional voting record and before she owned the positive and negative aspects that come with incumbency.
Perhaps the one thing we do know for sure is that Herseth Sandlin faces what looks to be her toughest challenge yet, and for that reason CQ Politics is changing the rating of the race from Likely Democratic to Leans Democratic.
South Dakota Republican Party Executive Director Lucas Lentsch compared Noem’s candidacy to that of Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who unseated then-Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D) in 2004.
“There are folks that are saying Kristi Noem has the makings of a John Thune campaign,” Lentsch said. “She’s electrified voters across South Dakota.”
Lentsch’s enthusiasm comes after years of the GOP failing to find a strong challenger to Herseth Sandlin.
Noem was named to the highest level of the NRCC’s “Young Gun” program on Wednesday. The race also signifies the first time in state history that two women will battle for a seat in Congress.
“Kristi Noem is everything that Stephanie Herseth claims to be but isn’t,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Tom Erickson said. “There’s a lot of anger at Washington over the national debt and spending and Stephanie Herseth has been a part of that.”
In particular, Noem’s campaign is pointing to Herseth Sandlin’s votes in favor of the stimulus package and more recently to raise the country’s debt limit.
“South Dakotans are frustrated with politicians in Washington spending like there is no tomorrow,” Noem campaign manager Joshua Shields said.
Herseth Sandlin’s camp defends the stimulus vote as an important step in helping stabilize the economy.
“Kristi Noem condemns federal spending, yet every year she has been in the Statehouse she has happily relied on federal assistance to balance the state’s budget,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokeswoman Gabby Adler said. “Kristi Noem’s double talk is not the type of leadership voters are looking for —this is just outright hypocrisy from a state legislator whose record shows she cares more about politics than South Dakota.”
The Congresswoman has hardly been known as a reliable vote for Democrats.
Herseth Sandlin supporters note that she has carefully carved out a niche as a moderate, fiscally conservative Democrat, breaking with her party on important votes such as health care reform, cap-and-trade and the financial and auto industry bailouts.
“Stephanie is South Dakota’s independent voice in Congress, and she looks forward to talking to voters about her bipartisan work on behalf of our state’s priorities,” campaign spokeswoman Betsy Hart said in an e-mailed statement. “She has a strong record of putting our state’s interests first ... working to promote biofuels and wind energy, or to ensure our veterans have the benefits they deserve — Stephanie makes her decisions based on what’s best for South Dakota.”
Still, Herseth Sandlin is having to campaign with her Washington experience in mind. In her first campaign eight years ago against former Gov. Bill Janklow (R), Republicans attacked her as a carpetbagger. She lost that race but came back to win a June 2004 special election. Now she is facing criticism that she’s gone Washington — that she’s moved her family to the nation’s capital and is married to a lobbyist, former Rep. Max Sandlin (D-Texas).
Her campaign isn’t running away from her Congressional record, according to media consultant Steve Murphy.
“We’re very confident that Stephanie Herseth Sandlin is going to win this election, but in an environment like this we expect a tough race,” Murphy said. “She hasn’t lost touch with [voters]. That is the danger in a Republican conservative jurisdiction this year.”
Noem, Assistant Majority Leader in the state House of Representatives, isn’t an unknown quantity in South Dakota.
She has a history of grass-roots involvement, working as an activist in the Vote Yes for Life campaign that successfully campaigned for the state Legislature to outlaw abortion in 2006. Voters overturned the law later that year.
One poll, taken two days following the June 8 primary, showed the race should be highly competitive. Noem received 53 percent to Herseth Sandlin’s 41 percent in the Rasmussen Reports telephone survey.
But Herseth Sandlin certainly has an edge in the money race. She has raised more than $820,000 this cycle and had nearly $452,000 on hand as of May 19, according to Federal Election Commission records. Noem raised about $244,000 after entering the race in February. She had about $43,000 on hand with debts of $48,000 as of mid-May.
Good chance for a GOP pick up?
As if a “right wing partisan” is worse than a “left wing partisan”?
Yes, but Noem has to get going with the fundraising.
There seems to be a rash of very attractive young conservative women running as Republicans this go around. I think that’s great—compare these women to the other side, and it’s like a breath of fresh air!
Here’s hoping they all win!
Indeed. I think a call to this gal would be a good place to start. That's pretty likely to happen.
Stephanie road into congress, on the huge mistake made by former Governor Bill Janklow.
Bill ran a stop sign, and killed a motorcyclist. He was given a slap on the wrist, but IIRC resigned his seat in the House.
That year was not a good year for Republicans in the State of SD.
The Gentleman who is far more dangerous, than Stephanie, is Mr Johnson, the senator who was the beneficiary of the largest sympathy vote in my memory. He is not a friend of the Constitution, believing in it as a living document. He is a leftist in a quiet unassuming way, which in reality hides what his voting record clearly shows.
Mr Johnson could have been a hero, and voted no on the health care bill. He preferred to vote with the Chicago gang running the country (into the ground), and now it can be said his one vote pushed that travesty over the top.
So much for voting for what is good for the state. The mandates the health care bill has in it will not be good for this state or any other for that matter.
As for fundraising, we'll have to see where Noem is after Q2. Q1 was the primary, and she did pretty well money-wise with a late start coming out of nowhere.
She looks and sounds good but I note that she is being strongly supported by the NRCC. Do they support real conservatives? Not just RINOs? I will only send money to staunch conservatives.
My mother-in-law and sister-in-law live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. My sister-in-law works for a braindead woman who would vote for a Democrat caught in bed with a dead girl AND a live boy. The boss told my ulta-conservative sister-in-law that she (the boss) would commit suicide if either Herseth-Sandlin loses or if the Democrats lose control of the House or of the Senate. I told my sister-in-law to tell her boss to take her time so we can pop some corn and pull up a seat to ringside.
Once a candidate wins a primary, the only thing the NRCC thinks about is: can he or she win? They seem to always pick the wrong republican when there are two. But once a candidate wins the NRCC will support them if they believe that candidate can win. South Dakota is a heavily GOP voting state. A candidate that only says “my opponent is the reason Nancy Pelosi is be Speaker of the House” should win in these districts.
If the most recent poll is any indication, Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin will lose this November. Noem will get plenty of help from the top of the ballot, will hammer away at SHS for voting with Pelosi 93% of the time (by her own admission) and will syrely be able to step up her fundraising. At this point, I would call the SD At-Large seat a toss-up, but it will move to leans GOP Takeover as more polling is done and will probably end up as a 6%-8% GOP win in November.
This race is very important. This is an at large seat where Herseth Sandlin could easily step up for a state wide race say to replace Johnson if he does not run for relelection and the tides are more favoable for her. She is young and attractive and given SD’s recent history we need to make sure that that does not happen.
These are the seats we have to win to take over Congress.
My,,, she is a looker!
I would love to see her, Sarah and Michelle Bachman together for a fundraiser.
Democrats, meanwhile, are already trying to paint Noem — an anti-abortion, pro-gun, anti-gay-marriage conservative — as a right-wing partisan.
To which my response would be...”What’s your point”
Democrats, meanwhile, are already trying to paint Noem — an anti-abortion, pro-gun, anti-gay-marriage conservative — as a right-wing partisan.
To which my response would be...”What’s your point”
Yes, Mr Johnson is the typical talk one way and vote the other.
Thanks for the reply. OK, if you promise that Noem won't gradually morph into another RINO once in power, I'll send her a contribution. I have a list of candidates across the country that I am actively supporting (=$$$). They are all red-meat, extreme right-wing, conservative firebrands. Or, at least, that is what the media tell me.
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