October Surprise: Late-breaking scandal could cost GOP expected South Dakota Senate seat

American Thinker ^ | 10/23/2014 | Thomas Lifson

[SeekAndFind]

The largest newspaper in South Dakota broke a story that could cost the GOP a red state Senate seat. The Fiscal Times reports:

 The three-way race for South Dakota’s open Senate seat got more complicated Wednesday, when the Sioux Falls Argus Leader published a page one story alleging that former Governor Mike Rounds, the Republican candidate and current leader in the polls, had approved $600,000 in state assistance to a company that was about hire a member of his cabinet.

According to reporter David Montgomery, then Secretary of Tourism and State Development Richard Benda requested the assistance for Northern Beef Packers about two weeks before he and Rounds were to leave office. Benda was about to go to work for a company with an investment in the plant – something Montgomery reports that Rounds knew while he remained in office, either at the time he signed off on the assistance, or shortly thereafter.

The article quotes Rounds saying, “My staff told me that when he was leaving state government, he was going to work for an investor in the beef plant.”

Rounds now says that his former Tourism Secretary misled him. Benda, who later faced accusations that, once in the private sector, he had redirected state grant money to pay his own salary, committed suicide in October 2013. 

Conveniently, Benda is unavailable to corroborate Rounds’ story.  Also conveniently for Democrats, the race is a four-way race, with two rival conservatives splitting the vote.

[defconw]

Are you from South Dakota?

[itsahoot]

Toooo late to fix them ,a computer can be made to do what ever you want it to do

And that boys and girls is why voter ID doesn't really matter. Sort of like the Battle of New Orleans, was fought after the war was over.

If voting made any difference they wouldn't let us do it." Mark Twain -

[rawcatslyentist]

Americans DNC Minitruth apparatchiks don’t give GOPers the generous, forgiving response they do to democrats.

[ripley]

“He didn’t even sign the loan or grant.”

Democrats are doing an awfully good imitation of
Josef Stalin, not to mention the MSM doing a good imitation of Pravda.

IMHO

[C. Edmund Wright]

nope

[defconw]

darn, I thought you might have inside info.

[C. Edmund Wright]

I know that Daschle was beaten in 2004 - and then he made sure his machine elected Senator Johnston in 2006 - a big time scam.

Lotta corruption and shady voting running through the Sioux nations I think. Dead coyotes, indians, witch doctors and so on.....

[demshateGod]

This is SOP for Rats. No one even questions when they do it.

[defconw]

LOL. Ok, Well I am west river and out here are mostly Republicans. We don’t have the Amish and Hispanics so I guess they have to steal the votes where they can.

[C. Edmund Wright]

I would think mostly Republicans, but Daschle and his family are, or at least were, very powerful force out there - or so it appears.

[defconw]

Some of the commies from Minnesota tend to migrate over toward Sioux Falls, then of course there was McGovern from Mitchell. So it can happen anywhere.