Democratic speaker at party forum
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HURON – Democrats can increase their chances of winning legislative and statewide races if they start talking to voters earlier, spend more time on voter turnout and interact better with the growing number of registered independents, a candidate for chair of the South Dakota Democratic Party said Thursday.
Tom Cool, unsuccessful in his race for state auditor last November, said there is reason for optimism moving forward.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Billie Sutton came up short about 11,500 votes to Republican Kristi Noem, but did particularly well in some areas.
“Surprise, surprise, Minnehaha County went a majority for Billie and that is the first time since, I think, the ‘70s that Minnehaha County has gone for a Democratic candidate for governor,” Cook said at the District 22 Democratic Forum.
Cool, executive director of Dakota Admissions for College Admission Counseling, is one of six people who want to lead the state party. State Central Committee members will elect the next chair March 23 in Oacoma.
In his full-time job, he works with about 100 post-secondary institutions, 180 high schools and about 12,000 students.
“What I do is set up the college fairs around the state and do conferences and workshops for school counselors and work with all of the colleges in and out of state,” Cool said.
In the aftermath of the 2018 election – in what he said was post-election therapy for him – he put together a power point presentation on election results, which show where Democratic candidates did well and where improvement is needed. The statistics will be helpful as the next party chair and staff map out how to make changes between now and the 2020 election.
Democrats finished last year with 16 legislators, five in the Senate and 11 in the House, the same number they had going into November. Republicans maintained their super majority in Pierre. But some Democrats came within a recount of victory, and Cool said he sees hope for the future in Minnehaha County where Democrats gained two seats.
For those who came up short – “I tell people when you run you’ve got to run at least twice, because you learn so much the first time you run,” he said.
Four Democrats campaigned for statewide offices at the party convention last summer, while Cool and others were candidates who were asked to run for seats so Republicans didn’t have a free pass to election.