SCOUTING REPORT | David Volk RIP, juicing careers, fraud paradise, academy assignment
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When Republicans selected David Volk as their candidate for state treasurer at their 1972 convention, there was skepticism among some. Volk was only 25, and Republicans in South Dakota were staring down a tough general election.
Sure enough, Democrats did well in the election, winning the governor’s race, capturing a one-seat majority in the state Senate and drawing Republicans to a 35–35 split in the House. But Volk, a Vietnam War veteran who had served with the famed 101st Airborne Division, proved to be among the GOP rocks that withstood the Democratic wave. By winning in November 1972, Volk became the youngest person ever elected to statewide office.
Volk died July 17 at the Royal C. Johnson Veterans’ Memorial Hospital in Sioux Falls. The Mitchell resident was buried in a private ceremony at the Servicemen’s Memorial Cemetery in Mitchell. He was 79.
