A lieutenant governor, a former lieutenant governor and a GOP rift

Senate leadership's hostile takeover of bill craters chance for compromise this year

PIERRE – When Sen. Jim Mehlhaff saw his Senate bill hijacked last week, he was asked to relinquish sponsorship.

He declined.

That decision paid off Friday, as Mehlhaff was successful in steering the bill he now opposed into an iceberg.

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His original legislation removed lieutenant governor nominations from political party conventions, allowing candidates for governor to pick their running mates. But his bill was amended by Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck to also remove attorney general and secretary of state candidates from conventions, putting them instead on a primary ballot.

While Schoenbeck and other supporters argue that a primary election puts the decision in the hands of voters rather than a narrow section of political party delegates, it is a divisive issue in the GOP – having already failed three times in the House – and Mehlhaff wanted no part of that.

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