You know who’s not benefiting from the Trump economic boom? The South Dakota Democratic Party:
The South Dakota Democratic Party will no longer have a physical presence in the state.
The state party is closing its offices in Sioux Falls and Rapid City at the end of September, and party staff will begin working remotely due to the party’s dwindling finances, according to SDDP Chair Paula Hawks. The party is also canceling a Black Hills fundraising event scheduled for next month. No layoffs related to the party’s financial situation have taken place, Hawks said.
Snip.
The SDDP started the month of July, the most recent reporting period, with $31,267 in the bank and ended the month with $3,181, according to the Federal Elections Commission. The party’s finances have been on a downward trend this year from $88,127 in cash on hand at the start of the year. The party also receives at least $10,000 monthly from the Democratic National Party, according to FEC reports.
Republicans hold all statewide elected offices, and have done so since the 2014 election. In the statehouse, Republicans hold 30 state senate seats to the Democrats 5, and 59 House seats to the Democrats 11.
For all of Howard Dean’s presidential campaign flameout, his stint as chairman of the DNC featured a 50 state strategy, which helped Democrats lay the groundwork for taking both the House and Senate in 2006. By contrast, first Obama (with Organizing for America) and then Hillary Clinton (who gutted the DNC to secretly launder money to her own campaign) starved the DNC grass roots.
Do you think it’s possible that the Democratic Party’s penchant for graft and corruption have finally impacted some state parties to the point they can no longer function? The fact that the SDDP can’t even afford an office suggests either extraordinary unpopularity, or actual embezzlement (or both).
I even checked into office space rental costs in Sioux Falls. I found things in the range of 75ยข a square foot for 750 square feet. My advanced calculator-based math skills tells me that works out to a grand total of $562.50 a month. Let’s call it $1,000 a month with phone, electricity, Internet, etc. The national party is sending them ten grand a month and they can’t even spend a tenth of that to keep the lights on?
Something doesn’t add up.