Elli Schwiesow to Run as Independent for South Dakota Dist. 32 Senate

Well, I see the cat is out of the bag concerning Elli Schwiesow's South Dakota independent senate run. I've been expecting a meow from the press or blogosphere or both since about Wednesday.

Elli is indeed running for the District 32 senate seat. She has been holding off until after the June 3 primary to make the official announcement, but she started gathering signatures about a week ago. I would imagine she'll have enough signatures by next week, if she doesn't already.

A great advantage Elli has in running as an independent is that she doesn't have to spend so much money in the primary...against Stan Adelstein, who has very, very deep pockets.

As Pat Powers said at the South Dakota War College, this kind of thing would not normally be a good thing for the Republican Party. However, this could be one of those odd cases where the exception is the rule.

As it stands at the moment, with Democrat Tom Katus and RINO Stan Adelstein running against each other, true Republicans haven't really had a choice. Oh, when November runs around they could choose between a Democrat and a Democrat-Lite, but that's not really a choice.

Elli, even running as an Independent, will represent the Republican values of the Republican Party better than the Republican candidate for Dist. 32 senate.

Remember that Adelstein has been a vehement opponent of core Republican values, working as hard as any liberal Democrat against protection for human life in the womb, and also voted against protecting marriage from being hijacked by homosexual activists.

Adelstein also spent $65,000 to elect Democrats in 2006, and threw his support behind Democrat Tom Katus against his party's nominee for Dist. 32 senate in 2006. He also helped form the now-defunct South Dakota Mainstream Coalition in 2005, which intended to work against core Republican values.

Elli, meanwhile, is Republican to the bone. She has held numerous Republican Party positions, supports her party's candidates, and is both socially and fiscally conservative. She is also pro-gun and cares about Native American issues. In other words, if you're looking for a solid Republican, Elli's your candidate.

Once her petition signatures are in and she's on the ballot for November, the people of Dist. 32 will have a real choice.