Stephanie Herseth
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Stephanie Herseth (born December 3, 1970) is an American lawyer and Democratic politician, currently serving as the sole member of the House of Representatives from South Dakota. She won the at-large seat ([map]) in a special election on June 1, 2004.
Herseth was raised on her family's farm near Houghton (between Hecla and Columbia) in a family active in South Dakota politics:
- Her paternal grandfather, Ralph Herseth, was governor;
- Her paternal grandmother, Lorna Herseth, was Secretary of State; and
- Her father, Lars Herseth, served for twenty years in the state legislature and ran for governor in 1986.
In early 2004, Janklow resigned his seat after he was convicted of manslaughter, triggering a special election. Herseth was selected as the Democratic nominee for this special election and she beat Republican candidate Larry Diedrich with 51 percent in a close-fought special election. Herseth had a substantial lead in polling for most of the campaign, but Diedrich closed the gap in the latter weeks. The victory gave South Dakota its first all-Democratic congressional delegation (Senators Tom Daschle and Tim Johnson were both Democrats) since 1937.
As both candidates had also been selected to represent their parties in the general election in November, campaigning continued after the special election. In the November general election, Herseth was elected to a full term with 53.4 percent of the vote, an increase of a few percentage points compared with the even closer June special elections. The vote margin in June was about 3,000 votes, but by November it had grown to over 29,000.
Both elections were hard-fought and close compared to many House races in the rest of the United States, and the special election was watched closely by a national audience. The general election was also viewed as one of the most competitive in the country, but was overshadowed in the state by the highly competitive Senate race, in which Daschle was defeated by former Congressman John Thune.
In both elections, Herseth campaigned as an "independent voice" and is generally considered to be a moderate Democrat. She supports abortion, has been vocal against cuts to veterans programs, has advocated the use of renewable fuels like ethanol, and supports farm programs. As a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, however, she opposes her party's leadership on some issues on which there is disagreement between conservative South Dakota and the more liberal Democratic leadership. For example, she opposes gun control and same-sex marriage. In the 2004 general election she was endorsed by the NRA, and she supported President Bush's call for a Federal Marriage Amendment.
Herseth will face Republican Bruce Whalen in the November 2006 general election.
External links
- [Congressional Website]
- [Campaign website]
- [Statement in South Dakota's 2004 Voter Guide]
- [2004 campaign finance data]
- [record maintained by the Washington Post]
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