Schwiesow, Running as Independent, Provides Choice in Dist. 32 Race

Rapid City, SD – Elli Schwiesow will be on the November ballot, a Republican running as an Independent for the Senate seat in District 32.

Schwiesow ran for the South Dakota District 32 Senate seat in 2006 against incumbent Stan Adelstein and won in the Republican primary. However, after losing, Adelstein provided financial and other support for her Democrat opponent, Tom Katus. Adelstein, a Republican, even campaigned for and took out campaign ads on behalf of Democrat Katus.

In the November 2006 general election, Schwiesow lost to Katus. Some have stated they believe Schwiesow's prominent support of Referred Law 6, the abortion ban, hurt her campaign by making it easier for the opposition to paint her as a "single issue candidate."

That was not the reality, however, as Schwiesow campaigned in 2006 on a variety of issues, and will be emphasising several issues this year.

When asked what issues she considered most important for the South Dakota legislature to deal with, she responded, "I will center my campaign on affordable healthcare, putting education dollars in the classroom, transparent government, and protecting private property from the abusive use of eminent domain."

Schwiesow said she intends to spend less time organizing this year, with more time getting out and talking with District 32 voters.

Schwiesow said the reason she is running as an independent is to provide choice for the voters of District 32.

“Currently there is a Democrat in the race and there is a Republican in the race but there is really only one shared philosophy between them," said Schwiesow. "I offer an alternative, a conservative choice to the voters of District 32," said Schwiesow.

In November, Independent Schwiesow will face both Republican Stan Adelstein and incumbent Democrat Tom Katus.

On social issues, there is little difference between Adelstein and Katus. For instance, both Adelstein and Katus oppose restrictions on abortion. Both Adelstein and Katus opposed protecting marriage and defining it as between a man and a woman in South Dakota.

Schwiesow went on to state, “As a limited government conservative I found it contrary to my principles to raise and spend the kind of money it would have required to remain competitive in the District 32 primary elections.

“I know the voters of my district. They are asking for a third choice, a common sense conservative choice. I am in this race to win, and I will work hard to meet every voter in District 32. It will be a lean, person-to-person, door-to-door campaign."

Schwiesow says she hopes her campaign will appeal to conservative voters in both parties. "Politics is the art of compromise. Many may find that difficult to accept but progress is not made unless common ground is established. I believe that for many years my role as a Republican official was to rally the troops, to get out the vote and build a winning team. I found it challenging to shift gears from being a conservative party advocate to a being a candidate," said Schwiesow.

She also says not to underestimate the voting power of the so-called Reagan Democrats, who care about many of the same issues as conservatives in the Republican Party.

Elli Schwiesow is a South Dakota native, a 28 year resident of Rapid City and District 32. She is married to Joel, her husband of almost 40 years, and has 5 children, 2 foster children and 11 grandchildren. Mrs. Schwiesow received an education degree from Concordia - St. Paul with minors in music and physical education. Elli has a long history of community service. She is a listener and a consensus builder.

She has a long history of service within the Republican Party, so conservatives need not worry that because she's running as an Independent, her values have suddenly changed. She has served as President of the Pennington County Republican Women, President of the State Federation of Republican Women, Chair of the Republican Ambassadors, the Pennington County Republican Vice-Chair & State Committee Member, and Vice-Chair of the South Dakota Republican Party.

When asked about concerns some Republicans may have that she could split the Republican vote and hand the election to Katus, Schwiesow was confident that her campaign would appeal to conservatives in both the Democrat and Republican parties, and that she would actually draw from a larger base than either Katus or Adelstein.

Schwiesow also believes that women are underrepresented in Pierre. "Women bring a unique voice and perspective to most situations. That voice and those perspectives are needed in the legislature," she said.