Both Parties Seek National Momentum in South Dakota Race
By STEPHEN KINZER - NYT
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - A special election to fill South Dakota's sole seat in the House of Representatives may have national impact in more ways than one.
The June 1 election is to fill the seat vacated by Bill Janklow, a Republican who resigned after being convicted of manslaughter in a traffic accident last year in which a motorcyclist was killed.
This will almost certainly be the last Congressional election before President Bush and Senator John Kerry face off in November, so both parties are eager for the momentum or at least encouragement that a victory in South Dakota would produce. A Democrat, Ben Chandler, won another previously Republican seat in Kentucky in a special election earlier this year.
This race, however, holds extra promise for the Democrats because many people here think their candidate, Stephanie Herseth, could gain national recognition.
"If she wins the special election and then wins again in November, she has a very bright future," said William Richardson, chairman of the political science department at the University of South Dakota. "It's pretty unusual to have such an articulate, bright, young, really charming female emerge in South Dakota, or anywhere else for that matter. Over a period of years she could become quite prominent."
The Republican candidate is Larry Diedrich, a farmer, four-term state legislator and former president of the American Soybean Association. Mr. Diedrich started as a near-unknown who was sometimes described as "the guy who's running against Stephanie," but in recent weeks he appears to have pulled close to her.
Unless this race is decided by an unexpectedly lopsided margin, the same two candidates will probably face each other again for a full two-year term in November. The winner would be a strong candidate to move up to the Senate when one of South Dakota's seats, both of which are now held by Democrats, becomes vacant.
Money from outside South Dakota has poured into both candidates' coffers. Ms. Herseth, a lawyer with a political pedigree, has received donations from the House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi; several labor unions; and Emily's List, a Washington group that supports Democratic female candidates who back abortion rights. Committees controlled by the House majority leader, Tom DeLay, and the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, have contributed to Mr. Diedrich, as have trade groups representing automobile dealers, restaurants and beer wholesalers.
Ms. Herseth has a star quality about her. This is a Republican state, however, as she was reminded when she ran against Mr. Janklow in 2002. He defeated her by nearly 25,000 votes out of more than 336,000 cast.
Most analysts expect that this election will be decided by a much narrower margin.
Although both candidates play down the campaign's national importance, they cannot escape the fact that South Dakota is as polarized as the rest of the country.
"The intensity of love and hate that's out there for Bush is amazing to me," Mr. Diedrich said. "Very few people are in between."
Mr. Diedrich, who is outspokenly anti-abortion and mentions Ronald Reagan as one of his political heroes, has sought to portray Ms. Herseth as a left-winger. He has made much of her refusal to promise that she would vote for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, and even more of her support for abortion rights.
Whenever he can, Mr. Diedrich mentions that he has been married for 21 years and has four children, including one who is adopted.
"You reach for commonalities," Mr. Diedrich said in an interview. "It's not something that necessarily makes people vote for you, but they may feel more comfortable with you representing them."
Ms. Herseth, who is single, responds by portraying herself as "fiscally conservative and ideologically moderate," and assures voters that she would oppose strict gun control laws and fight for the state's agricultural interests.
"She has done a very good job of running as a Republican," Mr. Diedrich said with a tinge of frustration.
Ms. Herseth holds a law degree and a graduate degree in political science from Georgetown University. Critics have sought to portray her as Washington-oriented and out of touch with her home state. Her name is well-known in South Dakota, however, partly because her grandfather was governor, her grandmother was secretary of state, and her father was a longtime legislative leader.
Polls suggest that female voters here lean heavily toward Ms. Herseth. In an effort to win some of them to his side, Mr. Diedrich has turned to Washington. Laura Bush flew here to campaign here with him and Lynne Cheney, the wife of the vice president, is expected a few days before the election.
In an interview, Ms. Herseth said she has pondered the different ways voters react to male and female candidates.
"My opponent's support seems to pick up when voters focus more on national security and Iraq,'' she said, "but I think I may have an edge when they think about issues like health care, education and jobs."
"There may have been a time when people would look skeptically on a candidate with my profile, but I think that's changing," Ms. Herseth said. "A lot of people today know women, or even have women in their family, who have postponed marriage and family-raising for professional reasons. Some of the stereotypes that were once out there are not so strong anymore."
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company |
