Herseth Sandlin likely to be nominated to federal bench

In honor of Presidents’ Day, I share this inspiring quote from Barack Obama for all the amazing students we love @AugustanaSD:

“It is you, the young and fearless at heart, the most diverse and educated generation in our history, who the nation is waiting to follow.”

Indeed.

— Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (@augiepres) February 15, 2021

In 2010 former US Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin's reelection bid was sabotaged by a member of her own political party who threatened to run against her in the primary because she believed she was representing the majority of South Dakotans. 

Sam Hurst wrote a viral postmortem of her tenure: a sobering reminder of how Democrats lost the word war in the state. Hurst's Dakota Day piece about the defeat of the incumbent Sandlin to Kristi Noem defined the choice of the South Dakota Democratic Party to enable Dr. Kevin Weiland to mount a primary run against Sandlin instead of a general election run against the unopposed John Thune who now has an untapped $13+ million war chest. 

It’s impossible for me to imagine either Stephanie or Max Sandlin living in a fetid pond like Pierre and if SHS has learned anything it’s that she’s over getting into any election where she could lose. In 2017 she told friends she was done with politics and was selected as the 24th president of Augustana University.

I know Judge Lawrence Piersol and after he sold his family's cabin in Hanna I showed him a piece of property in Whitewood Canyon near Deadwood in 2011. His daughters are godmothers to my daughters. Catherine Piersol, wife of Clinton-appointee Piersol is a longtime friend of the South Dakota Democratic Party and of former US Senator Tim Johnson's family. Hearings on Piersol's nomination were held before the Senate Judiciary Committee and then-US Senator Joe Biden. Today 80 year old Piersol is senior judge for the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota.

On Monday Herseth Sandlin was sworn in as a federal lawyer setting her up as a Biden nominee as a lifetime member of the federal judiciary to replace the retiring Jeffrey Viken. He was nominated by President Barack Obama. 

The move was sponsored by former US Attorney, now Chair of the South Dakota Democratic Party, Randy Seiler.