Free Republic

RAPID CITY, S.D., April 19 -- When Tim Giago, a native of the Pine Ridge Indian reservation, decided to run for the Senate as an independent, he did more than shake up the state's tight, closely watched race between Senate Democratic leader Thomas A. Daschle and John Thune, a former Republican representative. He made South Dakota's Indian Country the focal point of the campaign. Daschle, who had the most to lose from Giago's run, now has the most to gain. After a meeting with Daschle on Saturday, Giago, a nationally syndicated columnist and advocate for Indian causes, said he is...

Tim Giago now plans to run as an independent for the U.S. Senate, a move expected to change the complexion of a South Dakota race full of national implications. Giago, of Rapid City, publisher of the Lakota Journal, had planned to challenge Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle in the June 1 Democratic Party primary, with the winner to face Republican John Thune in November. But Giago said switching his effort to the fall gives him more time to get petitions signed and gives him a greater forum for discussion of Native American issues. "Our issues need to be analyzed, put...

<p>Tim Giago now plans to run as an independent for the U.S. Senate, a move expected to change the complexion of a South Dakota race full of national implications.</p> <p>Giago, of Rapid City, publisher of the Lakota Journal, had planned to challenge Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle in the June 1 Democratic Party primary, with the winner to face Republican John Thune in November.</p>

American Indian publisher forces Dem primary THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SIOUX FALLS - Tim Giago, a publisher of newspapers for American Indians, said he will run against Sen. Tom Daschle for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination. ''My basic reason for running is that for the past 50 years, the Indian vote on the Indian reservations has been taken for granted in this state,'' said Giago, 69, an Oglala Lakota and editor/publisher of the Lakota Journal in Rapid City and the Pueblo Journal in Albuquerque, N.M. Last month, Lakota Media Inc., owner of both publications, was sold to the Flandreau Santee Sioux...