Some Democratic candidates are reluctant to promote or even admit that they belong to their own party.
It’s a word some candidates avoid using. It’s a term they don’t advertise, promote or admit to, unless they are really forced to do so.
Even then, they are reluctant to do so.
That word? Democrat.
In some Republican-leaning states, candidates who are running under the Democratic banner do their best to avoid the label. It doesn’t appear in their ads, they somehow don’t mention it on their website or social media, and they rarely if ever mention the name of their political party.
I was reminded of this by a New York Times story on Montana Sen. Jon Tester, who is struggling to win a fourth term. The reporter stopped by the Great Falls Democratic Party headquarters, where signs promote Tester and several other candidates.
One was conspicuously missing: Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for president, who is trailing in Montana polls.
Tester (seen above in a public domain image posted on wikimedia commons) is keeping his distance from Harris. He did not attend the Democratic National Convention and is doing his best to avoid ties to the party and its top candidate.
“He has declined to endorse Harris and advertised how he has worked with Republicans and ‘fought to stop President Biden from letting migrants stay in America,’” the Times story noted. “It is part of an aura of independence that Mr. Tester has projected during his 18 years in office.”
When questioned by a Montana reporter, Tester declined to endorse Harris. He knows for many Montanans, attaching himself to her and the national party would be deadly for his chances to turn back Republican Tim Sheehy, a Bozeman businessman in his first race for office.
“Unfortunately, my opponent would rather talk about a national race that will be decided by the people of Montana,” Tester told MTN News. “Whoever gets elected to the U.S. president, I can guarantee you one thing, Just like all previous ones, I’ll work with them when they’re doing good things for Montana, and I’ll hold them accountable when they’re not.”
I witnessed the same thing in 2000, when Democrat Brian Schweitzer was running for the Senate against Republican incumbent Conrad Burns. Schweitzer told me he would not appear on the same stage with Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic presidential candidate that year.
In fact, Schweitzer told me, if Gore came to Montana, he would run to the opposite end of the state. He repeatedly told voters that he had never met Gore and had no plans to change that.
Schweitzer lost that race but bounced back in 2004 to win the first of two terms as governor. He briefly became a national figure with his colorful personality and shimming intelligence, and harbored national ambitions.
But he was a moderate Democrat who knew he would struggle to win primaries and caucuses dominated by liberal voters, so after his run as governor ended in 2013, he abandoned politics and has become a virtual recluse. His quick wit and blunt nature charmed voters but also caused him problems on the national stage because of some of his ill-considered comments.
Tester, once Schweitzer’s protégé, defeated Burns in 2006 and has served 18 years in the Senate. A burly, crew-cut farmer missing three fingers on his left hand, the result of a grisly accident as a boy, he runs his own farm machinery and emphasizes his history in the state and its agricultural roots.
He also avoids the word “Democrat.” Look for it on his campaign website. I couldn’t find it.
South Dakota Democrats face the same dilemma. Check out Sheryl Johnson, the Democratic candidate for our lone seat in the House of Representatives. Johnson doesn’t mention her party affiliation, either. She has focused on attacking Rep. Dusty Johnson as a career politician, not on the party label.
But South Dakota Democrats are willing to publicly support VP Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. National Committeeman Dennis Olson did so in a column on The Standard.
Montana and South Dakota Democrats, who once held a majority of congressional seats, are an endangered species. They don’t hold any statewide offices in South Dakota, and Tester is the only Democrat in a prominent office in the Big Sky State.
The South Dakota Legislature has Republican supermajorities in both the state Senate and House of Representatives. They have not won a statewide election since 2008.
It’s been a rough couple of decades for Democrats in both South Dakota and Montana. You can understand why they are hesitant to attach the D label next to their name. Montana has only voted for a Democratic presidential candidate twice since 1952.
South Dakota, despite occasional bursts of Democratic success, has been a Republican state for most of its history. It’s been 60 years since a Democratic candidate — President Lyndon Baines Johnson — carried it.
That streak won’t be broken this year, as former President Donald Trump is sure to win South Dakota with ease. For many voters, seeing an R next to a name on the ballot is all the information they want. You can understand why Democrats are trying to work with that reality.
In these closing weeks, we will see how much the SDDP and its candidates support Harris and admit they are, gasp!, Democrats!
Fourth-generation South Dakotan Tom Lawrence has written for several newspapers and websites in South Dakota and other states and contributed to The New York Times, NPR, The London Telegraph, The Daily Beast and other media outlets. Republish with permission.
