Slaight-Hansen loses appeal, ends fight over SDDP leadership role. Democrats must now focus on rebuilding
The South Dakota Democratic Party has rejected an appeal from former Chair Jennifer Slaight-Hansen. This is the end of the intraparty drama that arose in July and lasted for nearly two months.
Slaight-Hansen (seen above, second from right, in a photo from the SDDems site) told The South Dakota Standard on Friday night that she won’t pursue a challenge in court, and I reported it in a tweet.
“I’m ready to be done,” she said.
She was elected in February, took office on May 1, and recalled in August. Her election was a high moment for her, with Democrats overwhelmingly selecting her to lead the party. But things soon soured, and her relationship with Dan Ahlers, the former legislator and 2020 U.S. Senate candidate, turned toxic.
Slaight-Hansen chose Ahlers to run the day-to-day affairs of the party, but she said he refused to take direction from her. Ahlers said she violated the party constitution, hired staffers without authorization and created a hostile workplace.
Ahlers resigned but has remained a staffer. He said he will not run for chair, but has said he wants to continue to serve the party.
It was soon evident that Slaight-Hansen’s days were numbered. Both the Pennington and Minnehaha County Democrats called for her to resign, as did all 11 Democratic legislators. The process to recall her got underway when she refused to resign, and it was apparent that she had little support.
How did it all go south so fast? Slaight-Hansen, who refers to the process as a “coup,” said she still doesn’t understand exactly what happened and why. But she clearly angered powerful people in the party, and was left without anyone willing to stand up and defend her.
“They gave me no time to even get started,” she told me Friday. The pain lingers, and it’s clear it will for some time. Slaight-Hansen was the longtime Brown County Democratic Party chair, served two terms on the Aberdeen City Council and was the SDDP vice chair for about a year before being elevated to the top spot after the sudden death of Randy Seiler.
She had a lot of ideas for the party, and it appears she was going too fast for a lot of party leaders. Now, her political future appears cloudy, at best.
Former Vice Chair Shane Merrill has been serving as interim chair. Party leaders are scheduled to elect a new chair on Saturday, Sept. 16, in Rapid City. Merrill told The Standard he is “undecided” on seeking the post.
He is glad this “whole ordeal” is behind him.
Merrill has been interested in politics his whole life, and volunteered for Herseth Sandlin’s 2010 campaign. He served a term on the Parker City Council, and ran for the state Senate in 2016.
“The appeals committee has spoken and we respect their decision,” Merrill told me during an online chat on Saturday morning. “We are committed to moving forward as a party.”
He is right about that. It’s been a contentious time for the SDDP, with a lot of unpleasant headlines and reports. It’s time for the party to refocus on its main mission — winning some elections and regaining a significant place in state government.
The Democrats need to take on the South Dakota Republican Party and end this family feud. They have expelled Slaight-Hansen, for whatever reason, and she has decided to stop fighting it.
It’s time to raise money, register voters and recruit candidates. They are in danger of being passed in registration numbers by independents and people who list no party. Republicans already outnumber them more than two to one.
Rep. Dusty Johnson has not had an opponent in the last two congressional races. He must be challenged in 2024, even if it will be a long-shot bid. The SDDP has to stop giving Republicans a pass in so many races.
There are 105 legislative seats up for grabs. Democrats only hold 11 now, and they need to try to start closing that yawning gap. The best way to do that is to find people who are entrenched in their communities, who are known commodities and are willing to run as Democrats.
In order to win, they will need campaign managers, committed volunteers and guidance from the state party. Will Ahlers return as executive director? Can he help the SDDP emerge from this difficult time?
“We are certainly trying,” he told me. “People seem to be more united than I have seen in a very long time. Hopefully, that continues as we move into 2024.”
Who will be the next chair? Merrill has to decide if he wants to lead the party, and the SDDP’s leaders need to determine how much power they will grant their chair. Slaight-Hansen was forced out of office for trying to exert too much authority.
Will the next chair forge a better working relationship with the old guard of the party, as well as the young Democrats who also called for Slaight-Hansen to be recalled? Can the chair and executive director, whoever they are, work in tandem for the good of the party and the state?
The end of this Democratic drama came suddenly. Slaight-Hansen texted me on Friday night to say her appeal had been rejected.
It seemed like a classic example of a news dump, releasing unpleasant news on Friday night when most people are unplugged from the news. With former President Donald Trump and Gov. Kristi Noem holding a rally in Rapid City, it was sure to get even less attention, until I tweeted it out around 7 p.m. Friday.
Slaight-Hansen said she was told a press release would be issued, but none has appeared yet. My tweets seem to have beaten them to the punch. Merrill told me on Saturday morning that he was not sure if a release would be forthcoming.
But the news is out, and the recall is over. Jennifer Slaight-Hansen’s brief time as the leader — if you can call it that — of the South Dakota Democratic Party is over and the battle has ceased.
Now it’s time for healing and rebuilding, and there is plenty of both to do — and soon. The clock is already ticking on 2024.
Tom Lawrence has written for several newspapers and websites in South Dakota and other states and contributed to The New York Times, NPR, The Telegraph, The Daily Beast and other media outlets.
