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South Dakota Senate sees largest freshman class elected since 1990 • South Dakota Searchlight [1]
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Date: 2024-11-07
Just over a quarter of South Dakota’s senators this winter will swear in as state lawmakers for the first time. It’s the largest freshman class the chamber has seen since 1990, when 10 freshmen senators were elected.
Between the 2000 and 2022 elections, an average of four freshman senators have been elected each election cycle, often ascending to the chamber after serving in the House.
“Generally, the Senate is the more experienced, seasoned body,” said Tony Venhuizen, a Republican representative from Sioux Falls who authors the “SoDak Governors” blog chronicling South Dakota’s political history.
The representative, who ran unopposed in the general election, said usually “you know what to expect” of the chamber because even its new members have typically served either in the Senate or House previously.
By comparison, about a third of House members in each session since 2000 have been freshmen. That can make the House a more “unpredictable” body, Venhuizen said. The House will have a typical freshman class size in 2025, with new members accounting for about 29% of the chamber, based on unofficial election results.
“This year, you’ll see more of that dynamic in the Senate,” Venhuizen said.
A comparable number of freshman lawmakers came to the Senate in 1990 and 1992, when South Dakotans elected 10 and nine freshmen, respectively. Outgoing Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck was one of seven freshman senators elected in 1994.
“There was a pile of new ones elected then,” Schoenbeck said. Such a major shift is typically a sign of “some big issue sweeping across” the state, he said.
A shift towards Democrats was a factor in 1990. That year, Democrats strengthened their position in the Senate before taking control of the chamber in 1992. South Dakotans narrowly voted to reelect U.S. Sen. Larry Pressler in 1990 over Theodore ‘Ted’ Muenster, and selected George H.W. Bush for its presidential pick in 1992 with a 3% margin over Bill Clinton.
Republicans reclaimed the Senate in the 1994 election and have held the chamber ever since.
The rise of new lawmakers in 2024 comes largely as a result of property rights related to a controversial carbon pipeline proposal. Several new legislators-elect campaigned on local control and property rights in eastern South Dakota during the Republican primary this summer, which saw voters oust 14 incumbents.
A carbon pipeline law supported by 11 of the incumbents who lost in June was tossed out by South Dakota voters in Tuesday’s election, with a 59% vote against Referred Law 21. Pipeline opponents petitioned the law onto the ballot after Gov. Kristi Noem signed it in March.
Some of the newly elected Republican lawmakers also campaigned on the importance of property tax relief and online safety for minors, both of which were the topics of summer studies this year after a handful of legislative proposals on each issue failed to pass both chambers.
The growth in new Republicans will likely intensify the leadership struggle set between traditional Republicans and those who’ve staked out more conservative positions on pipelines, property taxes and online pornography. Democrats lost two of their meager number in the Legislature, coming away with three seats in the Senate and six in the House, based on unofficial results.
Republicans will meet Friday to elect thier legislative leaders in closed-door caucus meetings.
Schoenbeck echoed Venhuizen, saying the influx of inexperienced senators will challenge the chamber because legislative rules and procedure will be “a foreign language.” Schoenbeck did not run for reelection this year.
“It means you’re going to have to go slower, and you’re going to make some mistakes,” Schoenbeck said. “That lack of knowledge of the rules and institutional perspective will slow things down, and some people will get frustrated and mad because rules matter.”
Nine of the 10 senators-elect in the freshman class have not held an elected public service position before, based on their campaign websites.
Service on city councils, county commissions and school boards can be helpful for new lawmakers, Schoenbeck said, because those who have it understand budgets, constituent outreach and how to work with a representative body.
“When they haven’t had any of that,” Schoenbeck said, “it’s going to be a whole new world.”
The Senate will also see the return of four former lawmakers who served in the House, but did not serve in the Legislature the latest term. That includes Sens.-elect Jamie Smith, D-Sioux Falls, who served from 2017 to 2022; Paul Miskimins, R-Mitchell, who served from 2019 to 2022; Sam Marty, R-Prairie City, who served from 2015 to 2022; and Taffy Howard, R-Rapid City, who served from 2017 to 2022.
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