South Dakota Democrats nominate former U.S. Attorney for legal post

Tatewin Means

Tatewin Means was live.

ICT editorial team

Tatewin Means gives rousing speech, earns standing ovation; delegates stick with establishment candidate #NativeVote18

Mark Trahant

Indian Country Today

South Dakota Democrats voted by a two-thirds margin to nominate former U.S. Attorney Randy Seiler as their candidate for Attorney General.

At the party convention, Tatewin Means gave a rousing speech, earned a standing ovation, and then was passed over for the establishment candidate.

Seiler told delegates: "I am confident that I am the most qualified candidate in this race. I am confident that I can win this race."

The experience argument has been his theme throughout the campaign.

Means Means is a citizen of the Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota and she is Oglala Lakota. On Facebook, Means wrote: "Thank you South Dakota Democratic Party for your standing ovation after my delegate remarks. #HelpTateWIN"

She told the delegates that she was a candidate for those who have been silenced or ignored for far too long. "South Dakota deserves honest, trustworthy and inclusive leadership," she said. "I come from marginalized and disenfranchised communities ..." and she hopes to make South Dakota a true, representative democracy.

South Dakota Democrats also nominated:

Lieutenant governor: Michelle Lavallee. (Lavallee was controversial because she's a former Republican.)
Commissioner of School and Public Lands: Woody Houser
Public Utilities Commissioner: Wayne Frederick
State Auditor: Tom Cool
State Treasurer: Aaron Matson
And no candidate was selected for Secretary of State.

Mark Trahant is editor of Indian Country Today. He is a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. Follow him on Twitter - @TrahantReports

Comments (2)

No. 1-2

JMYracheta

Jun 16, 2018

Why would you give a standing ovation for someone you didn't vote for? You feel safe with the " conventional " candidate, but if Trump has taught us anything it's that we are in unconventional times. I wish @SoDakDems would have been "bold so mighty forces would come to our aid." Such as the the national party, California, New York , minority and vulnerable populations , late night talk shows, Fareed Zakaria, Lawrence O'Donnell, ACLU, Indigenous Alliance, and many more.

legalbeagle

Jun 18, 2018

Look at the crowd. Too many old people many of which share significant responsibility for the mess we are in and still holding steady on their old platform. Politics as usual? Not a way to make change! We need change....

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