“At one time, South Dakota was represented in the U.S. Senate by James Abourezk and George McGovern, two of the most Liberal Democrats in the body.”
I recall Abourezk. I had a friend that was a strong democrat and worked on Abourezk’s reelection team as a war veteran. I called this clown Abor-zerk just to PO this guy.
In that era SD’s northern neighbor, ND, had democrats all over the place.
Historically speaking, how the farmers were treated by the big grain companies had a lot to do with it. The commie NPL party gained roots, so did Farmers Union which in its beginning even had communes, one of which the housing still exists in Minot ND today.
Basically, it was farmers jettisoning their conservative social values in exchange for federal dollars. Now that both Dakotas no longer depend so much on federal dollars, they are going back to their conservative social values.