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South Dakota

From dKosopedia

Categories: United States of America | South Dakota

Diaries and stories tagged as "South%20Dakota" on Daily Kos: most recent most recs front page

Contents 1 General information 2 Party Politics 3 Abortion 4 Native American issues 5 Congressional Delegation 6 State Government 7 Cities & Counties 8 Elections 9 South Dakota Democratic Party 10 South Dakota progressive resources 11 News, Etc 12 Political Blogs 13 See also

General information

The lands of present day South Dakota were once part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Lewis and Clark explored the region in 1804–1806. Fort Pierre, the first permanent settlement, was established in 1817. South Dakota became the 40th state on Nov. 2, 1889. South Dakota's capital is Pierre, its most populous city is Sioux Falls.

Ranked 46th in population size among the states according to the 2000 U.S. census, South Dakota's estimated 2004 population was 770,883.

Mt. Rushmore, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, is famous for the likenesses of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt, which were carved in granite by Gutzon Borglum. A memorial to Crazy Horse is also being carved in granite near Custer.

Party Politics

South Dakota politics is dominated by the Republican Party and the state has not supported a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964 or elected a Democratic majority in the Legislature since 1936. In 2004, George W. Bush won the state's 3 electoral votes by the overwhelming margin of 22 percentage points with 59.9% of the vote. There are only five reliably Democratic counties in the state, most of them with primarily American Indian populations. Republicans have won the last seven gubernatorial elections and have controlled the legislature, with one brief interruption, for over thirty years. However, Democrats have been successful in winning election to Congress from South Dakota.

Several South Dakota Democrats have been notable national figures asl well. South Dakota Sen. George McGovern was Richard Nixon's Democratic opponent in the 1972 presidential election. Sen. Tom Daschle served in Congress for more than 25 years, and served as Senate Majority Leader. Daschle lost his seat in a historic political upset by former U.S. Representative John Thune at the end of a particularly nasty Republican smear campaign aginst Daschle. The 2004 election defeat marks the first time since 1952 a sitting Senate leader lost a bid for re-election.

Abortion

In February 2006, South Dakota became the first state since the Roe v Wade decision to pass a state law banning abortion outright (HB1215). However, the local group Focus South Dakota gathered 38,000 signatures, more than twice the minimum requirement, to suspend implementation of the bill, and refer it to the November ballot.

Native American issues

South Dakota has been a focus of Native American politics. There are many reservations and Indian people in the state. The events surrounding the massacre at Wounded Knee (wikipedia), often referred to as the last battle of the Indian Wars, occurred here in 1890. The Black Hills of South Dakota were promised to the Lakota Sioux in the Fort Laramie treaty, then illegally taken back at the time of the Black Hills gold rush in the 1870's. A 1980 Supreme Court case was decided in favor of Indian ownership of the Black Hills, but the Lakota have not accepted the offered settlement. The state has been the home of many prominent Indian leaders, including Crazy Horse, Black Elk, and Russell Means.

Congressional Delegation

• Senate
  • Senior Senator: Tim Johnson (D)
  • Junior Senator: John Thune (R)

• House of Representatives
  • SD-AL Rep.: Kristi Noem (R)

• US Congressional Delegations from South Dakota (Wikipedia)

State Government

• Executive Branch
  • Governor: Dennis Daugaard (R)
  • Lt.Gov: Matt Michels (R)
  • Secretary of State: Jason Gant (R)
  • Treasurer : Rich Sattgast (R)
  • Attorney General: Marty Jackley (R)
  • Auditor: Steve Barnett (R)
  • Commissioner of School and Public Lands: Jarrod Johnson (R)

• Legislative Branch
  • South Dakota State Legislature

• Judicial Branch
  • South Dakota Unified Judicial System
  • South Dakota Supreme Court

• State Constitution
  • South Dakota State Constitution (South Dakota Legislature)

Cities & Counties

• South Dakota County Selection Map (U.S. Census)

Elections

• Elections & Voter Registration Overview (South Dakota Secretary of State)
• Past Elections (South Dakota Secretary of State)
• South Dakota election results
• see U.S. elections

South Dakota Democratic Party

• South Dakota Democratic Party

South Dakota progressive resources

• Irregular States: The Progressive State of South Dakota

News, Etc

• South Dakota Newspapers (NewsLink.org)
• South Dakota Newspapers and News Media Guide(ABYZ News Links)
• South Dakota Politicians On The Issues (OnTheIssues.org)

Political Blogs

• Blue Note
• Clean Cut Kid
• Dakota Today: Prairie Persepective
• Dakota Women
• Don't Worry About the Government
• Hog House Blog
• Left Dakota, Right Dakota, South Dakota
• A Moderate from South Dakota
• Mount Blogmore
• Northern Valley Beacon
• Plain(s) Feminist
• A Progressive on the Prairie
• SD Blogosphere Photo Repository
• S.D. Watch &Epp Law Report
• South Dakota Politics
• South Dakota Progressive
• South Dakota Straight Talk

See also

View source | Discuss this page | Page history | What links here | Related changes Main Page | About dKosopedia | Recent changes |   This page was last modified 03:01, 7 March 2011 by dKosopedia user Jbet777. Based on work by Chad Lupkes and dKosopedia user(s) Corncam, Allamakee Democrat, Curtvprice, DJ Jones, Drew and Sipples. Content is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.