State Senate Democratic leader will run for governor
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BURKE (AP) — State Senate Democratic leader Billie Sutton said Wednesday that he’s running for governor in 2018 to help working families and fight corruption in South Dakota.
Sutton announced his bid to more than 100 supporters at his family’s ranch near Burke. The 33-year-old investment consultant and former rodeo rider faces a challenging race in heavily Republican South Dakota, where the GOP currently controls every statewide office and has supermajorities in both legislative chambers.
Sutton said as governor he would work to make sure that South Dakota residents can have good paying jobs, a high quality of life and a world-class education. If he becomes the first Democratic governor elected in South Dakota since 1974, Sutton said he would serve as a check on the Republican-controlled Legislature in Pierre.
Sutton said he would “change the culture of corruption” in government, referencing recent high-profile scandals that have resulted in deaths, including alleged theft and an attempted cover-up at a Platte-based educational cooperative and what authorities have called financial misconduct involving the EB-5 visa program.