WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.080 Welcome back. I am I'm genuinely thrilled you 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:06.360 could join us today for a brand new deep dive. 00:00:06.459 --> 00:00:08.380 Yeah, it's a great one today. It really is. We 00:00:08.380 --> 00:00:11.419 are tackling a stack material today that proves 00:00:11.419 --> 00:00:14.460 sometimes the most incredible historical narratives 00:00:14.460 --> 00:00:17.550 are just, you know. Hiding in plain sight. Right. 00:00:17.649 --> 00:00:19.870 Buried right there in the open. Exactly. Buried 00:00:19.870 --> 00:00:22.350 inside what looks like a completely dry, straightforward 00:00:22.350 --> 00:00:25.929 data set. Today, we are exploring a comprehensive 00:00:25.929 --> 00:00:28.449 record detailing the list of United States senators 00:00:28.449 --> 00:00:31.410 from South Dakota. And on the surface, I mean, 00:00:31.410 --> 00:00:34.270 it is a chronological inventory of names, dates, 00:00:34.509 --> 00:00:37.130 party affiliations and congressional sessions. 00:00:37.369 --> 00:00:40.630 But OK, let's unpack this. OK, let's unpack this, 00:00:40.689 --> 00:00:42.409 because if you look closely at these timelines 00:00:42.409 --> 00:00:44.729 and shifting party labels, you start to see the 00:00:44.729 --> 00:00:47.159 actual. mechanics of American politics playing 00:00:47.159 --> 00:00:49.020 out. You really do. We are talking about historical 00:00:49.020 --> 00:00:52.579 anomalies, dramatic shifting loyalties, forgotten 00:00:52.579 --> 00:00:55.960 third party movements and this absolute electoral 00:00:55.960 --> 00:00:59.079 meat grinder that reveals so much about how power 00:00:59.079 --> 00:01:01.920 is actually maintained and lost. It's a fascinating 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:04.540 document. But before we get into the specifics 00:01:04.540 --> 00:01:08.099 of those timelines, it is crucial to establish 00:01:08.099 --> 00:01:10.379 the ground rules for today's exploration. Right. 00:01:10.459 --> 00:01:13.170 Definitely. Because our subject matter. inherently 00:01:13.170 --> 00:01:15.530 involves political figures from both sides of 00:01:15.530 --> 00:01:18.530 the aisle, Republicans, Democrats, and several 00:01:18.530 --> 00:01:21.129 historical third parties. I want to be completely 00:01:21.129 --> 00:01:23.890 clear with you, the listener, that this deep 00:01:23.890 --> 00:01:27.150 dive will remain strictly neutral. 100%. Our 00:01:27.150 --> 00:01:31.129 goal today is absolutely not to endorse any viewpoints, 00:01:31.269 --> 00:01:34.650 political platforms, or parties. We are here 00:01:34.650 --> 00:01:37.209 simply to objectively explore the historical 00:01:37.209 --> 00:01:40.329 facts, the anomalies, and the electoral data. 00:01:40.670 --> 00:01:42.650 We are looking at the mechanics of the system, 00:01:42.769 --> 00:01:45.329 not taking sides in the debates. That is the 00:01:45.329 --> 00:01:47.969 perfect lens for this. We are acting purely as 00:01:47.969 --> 00:01:50.390 historical data detectives. Exactly. Just looking 00:01:50.390 --> 00:01:52.849 at the math and the history. Right. So to give 00:01:52.849 --> 00:01:55.129 you a roadmap for where we are heading, we are 00:01:55.129 --> 00:01:57.310 going to start at the inception of South Dakota's 00:01:57.310 --> 00:01:59.370 statehood to understand the structural blueprint 00:01:59.370 --> 00:02:02.189 of its Senate seats. Then we will look at some 00:02:02.189 --> 00:02:05.349 highly specific, quirky trivia regarding its 00:02:05.349 --> 00:02:07.870 current delegation. From there, we will travel 00:02:07.870 --> 00:02:10.419 back to the agrarian populism of late. late 19th 00:02:10.419 --> 00:02:13.060 century. And finally, we'll examine the dramatic 00:02:13.060 --> 00:02:16.280 turnover, the sudden tragedies, and the brutal 00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:19.020 primary battles that define the state's political 00:02:19.020 --> 00:02:22.039 history. It's a journey. And the foundational 00:02:22.039 --> 00:02:24.719 blueprint of this entire system was laid down 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:28.180 on November 2, 1889, when South Dakota was admitted 00:02:28.180 --> 00:02:30.960 to the Union. Right. Day one. Day one. Right 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:33.280 away, the state had to integrate into the existing 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:35.479 structure of the United States Senate, which 00:02:35.479 --> 00:02:38.139 meant dividing its two new seats into Class 2 00:02:38.139 --> 00:02:40.610 and Class 3. It is the classic constitutional 00:02:40.610 --> 00:02:43.310 safeguard. The founders staggered the classes 00:02:43.310 --> 00:02:45.590 so that the Senate remains a continuous body. 00:02:45.689 --> 00:02:47.969 Right. Only about one third of the chamber is 00:02:47.969 --> 00:02:50.229 up for election in any given cycle, avoiding 00:02:50.229 --> 00:02:52.789 a complete sweep of institutional memory in a 00:02:52.789 --> 00:02:55.650 single volatile election year. So South Dakota's 00:02:55.650 --> 00:02:57.389 two seats had to be assigned to different classes 00:02:57.389 --> 00:02:59.729 to fit into that ongoing metronome. And that 00:02:59.729 --> 00:03:02.330 initial division set a rhythm that has been ticking 00:03:02.330 --> 00:03:04.990 continuously ever since. Just nonstop. Yeah. 00:03:05.600 --> 00:03:07.939 The Class 2 seat operates on a cycle that was 00:03:07.939 --> 00:03:10.939 most recently contested in 2020, putting it up 00:03:10.939 --> 00:03:14.080 for grabs next in 2026. Okay. And then the Class 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:16.659 3 seat is on a separate track, recently contested 00:03:16.659 --> 00:03:20.280 in 2022, which pushes its next election to 2028. 00:03:21.150 --> 00:03:23.650 It is a continuous loop that started in the late 00:03:23.650 --> 00:03:26.909 19th century and simply has not stopped. It really 00:03:26.909 --> 00:03:29.550 dictates the career pacing of every politician 00:03:29.550 --> 00:03:31.969 who has ever held the office. Completely. And 00:03:31.969 --> 00:03:34.389 that staggered rhythm brings us directly to the 00:03:34.389 --> 00:03:36.889 modern era and the current delegation representing 00:03:36.889 --> 00:03:40.229 those two classes. Today, both U .S. senators 00:03:40.229 --> 00:03:43.069 from South Dakota are Republicans. In the class 00:03:43.069 --> 00:03:45.150 three seat, you have John Thune, who has been 00:03:45.150 --> 00:03:48.030 serving since 2005. And in the class two seat, 00:03:48.110 --> 00:03:50.889 you have Mike Rounds, serving since 2015. But 00:03:50.889 --> 00:03:53.009 here's where it gets really interesting. I love 00:03:53.009 --> 00:03:55.669 this part. There is a fantastic, highly specific 00:03:55.669 --> 00:03:57.629 piece of trivia hidden in the background of these 00:03:57.629 --> 00:04:00.509 two tenures. John Thune is the senior senator 00:04:00.509 --> 00:04:02.710 because he arrived in Washington a decade earlier. 00:04:02.909 --> 00:04:05.469 But biologically, John Thune is younger than 00:04:05.469 --> 00:04:07.990 Mike Rounds, the junior senator. It is a total 00:04:07.990 --> 00:04:10.789 age and seniority paradox. It's wild, right? 00:04:10.830 --> 00:04:12.969 It highlights how political seniority in the 00:04:12.969 --> 00:04:15.430 Senate is purely a measure of electoral timing. 00:04:15.770 --> 00:04:18.529 Yeah, completely decoupled from the actual age 00:04:18.529 --> 00:04:21.230 of the individual. Exactly. And South Dakota 00:04:21.230 --> 00:04:24.449 is actually one of exactly 15 states that currently 00:04:24.449 --> 00:04:27.910 feature a younger senior senator and an older 00:04:27.910 --> 00:04:31.329 junior senator. That is a surprisingly high number. 00:04:31.509 --> 00:04:33.870 It makes you wonder about the broader career 00:04:33.870 --> 00:04:38.250 pipelines into federal office. Which other states 00:04:38.250 --> 00:04:40.709 fall into this category? The list spans the entire 00:04:40.709 --> 00:04:43.069 country. You've got California, Colorado, Georgia. 00:04:43.269 --> 00:04:45.680 Wow, that's already widespread. Right. And it 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:49.060 keeps going. Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, 00:04:49.300 --> 00:04:51.360 Massachusetts. So it's literally everywhere. 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:54.819 Everywhere. Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, Pennsylvania, 00:04:55.079 --> 00:04:57.759 and Utah. That's fascinating. When you see a 00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:00.600 geographic spread like that, from Hawaii to Maine, 00:05:00.779 --> 00:05:03.079 it tells you something about how the Senate operates. 00:05:03.420 --> 00:05:06.060 For many politicians, the Senate is a second 00:05:06.060 --> 00:05:08.120 or third act. Right. They aren't just starting 00:05:08.120 --> 00:05:10.509 out there. Exactly. They might spend decades 00:05:10.509 --> 00:05:12.889 in private business or serve as the state's governor 00:05:12.889 --> 00:05:15.389 before finally making a run for a Senate seat 00:05:15.389 --> 00:05:17.509 later in life. Oh, that makes sense. So if they 00:05:17.509 --> 00:05:19.250 end up serving alongside someone who entered 00:05:19.250 --> 00:05:21.949 federal politics in their 30s or 40s, you get 00:05:21.949 --> 00:05:25.149 this precise paradox. Speaking of John Thune's 00:05:25.149 --> 00:05:28.029 electoral timing, his entry into the Senate marks 00:05:28.029 --> 00:05:31.230 a major historical milestone unique to that class 00:05:31.230 --> 00:05:33.620 three seat. It really does. It centers around 00:05:33.620 --> 00:05:36.100 the election of 2004 where Thune defeated the 00:05:36.100 --> 00:05:38.360 incumbent Tom Daschle. What's fascinating here 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:41.639 is the sheer statistical rarity of that specific 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:44.620 transition of power. Yeah. That seat holds the 00:05:44.620 --> 00:05:46.839 unique distinction of having a future Senate 00:05:46.839 --> 00:05:49.980 Majority Leader John Thune defeat and directly 00:05:49.980 --> 00:05:53.560 succeed a former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. 00:05:53.769 --> 00:05:56.050 The mathematical odds of that happening in one 00:05:56.050 --> 00:05:59.129 specific state's Senate class are incredibly 00:05:59.129 --> 00:06:01.850 low. Practically zero. You have two individuals 00:06:01.850 --> 00:06:05.149 who would both reach the absolute highest echelon 00:06:05.149 --> 00:06:08.110 of leadership within the Senate chamber, directly 00:06:08.110 --> 00:06:10.329 running against each other for the same seat, 00:06:10.449 --> 00:06:12.850 with the challenger unseating the incumbent. 00:06:13.129 --> 00:06:15.550 It is a profound historical anomaly captured 00:06:15.550 --> 00:06:17.649 right there in the transition from the 108th 00:06:17.649 --> 00:06:20.649 to the 109th Congress. And it speaks volumes 00:06:20.649 --> 00:06:23.730 about the political gravity of the state. It 00:06:23.730 --> 00:06:26.350 shows a local electorate that isn't afraid to 00:06:26.350 --> 00:06:29.189 cut down a national political giant if they feel 00:06:29.189 --> 00:06:32.149 their local alignment has shifted. The voters 00:06:32.149 --> 00:06:34.649 were willing to trade current institutional power 00:06:34.649 --> 00:06:37.439 for future potential. But that willingness to 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:40.540 radically shift gears didn't start in the modern 00:06:40.540 --> 00:06:43.839 era. To really appreciate the volatility in South 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:46.939 Dakota's political DNA, we have to dial the clock 00:06:46.939 --> 00:06:49.759 way back to the late 19th century. Oh, the early 00:06:49.759 --> 00:06:51.920 days. Yeah. Look at the pioneers of the delegation. 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:54.759 You have Richard Pettigrew in class two and Gideon 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:57.139 C. Moody in class three. Both Republicans elected 00:06:57.139 --> 00:07:00.629 in 1889, right as the state was admitted. Their 00:07:00.629 --> 00:07:04.009 electoral security was incredibly fragile. Moody 00:07:04.009 --> 00:07:06.910 barely made it two years, losing his seat in 00:07:06.910 --> 00:07:10.029 1891. And his replacement introduces one of the 00:07:10.029 --> 00:07:12.629 most dynamic figures of the era, Senator James 00:07:12.629 --> 00:07:15.629 H. Kyle. Kyle is essentially the chameleon senator 00:07:15.629 --> 00:07:18.209 of the 1890s. Totally. When he is first elected 00:07:18.209 --> 00:07:21.189 in 1891, his party affiliation is listed as independent. 00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:24.060 Which is rare enough for a U .S. senator. Very 00:07:24.060 --> 00:07:26.939 rare. But as you track his tenure into the 53rd 00:07:26.939 --> 00:07:30.579 and 54th Congresses, his label shifts to populist. 00:07:30.620 --> 00:07:34.300 He even wins reelection in 1897 under that populist 00:07:34.300 --> 00:07:37.839 banner. Right. Then, by the 55th Congress, his 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:39.860 label shifts yet again to silver Republican. 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:43.279 That progression from independent to populist 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:46.360 to silver Republican is such a vivid snapshot 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:49.449 of a fractured political landscape. If we connect 00:07:49.449 --> 00:07:51.290 this to the bigger picture, we have to remember 00:07:51.290 --> 00:07:53.689 what the 1890s looked like in places like the 00:07:53.689 --> 00:07:56.410 Dakotas. It wasn't about abstract ideological 00:07:56.410 --> 00:07:59.230 purity. No, not at all. It was about sheer economic 00:07:59.230 --> 00:08:02.089 survival. The country was locked in a bitter 00:08:02.089 --> 00:08:04.829 debate over the gold and silver standards. Farmers 00:08:04.829 --> 00:08:07.170 in rural states were being absolutely crushed 00:08:07.170 --> 00:08:09.870 by debt and deflation. Right. The economic pressure 00:08:09.870 --> 00:08:12.110 was immense. Exactly. Aligning with the silver 00:08:12.110 --> 00:08:14.569 movement meant supporting bimetallism, essentially 00:08:14.569 --> 00:08:16.670 pushing for policies that would cause inflation, 00:08:16.829 --> 00:08:19.209 making those massive agricultural debts easier 00:08:19.209 --> 00:08:22.170 to pay off. So Kyle wasn't just casually changing 00:08:22.170 --> 00:08:25.019 teams. Not at all. He was aggressively chasing 00:08:25.019 --> 00:08:27.439 the immediate economic interests of his constituents. 00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:30.779 Politicians were abandoning broad national party 00:08:30.779 --> 00:08:34.639 platforms to align with highly specific existential 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:38.179 monetary policies. It shows just how fluid voter 00:08:38.179 --> 00:08:40.139 coalitions were. You couldn't just rely on a 00:08:40.139 --> 00:08:42.279 party machine. You had to adapt to the shifting 00:08:42.279 --> 00:08:45.340 economic winds. And Kyle continued to navigate 00:08:45.340 --> 00:08:47.559 those turbulent waters until his tenure was cut 00:08:47.559 --> 00:08:51.080 short. He died in office in 1901. That tragic 00:08:51.080 --> 00:08:54.000 end actually introduces a rather grim but persistent 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:56.580 theme in the historical record. He does. Between 00:08:56.580 --> 00:08:58.980 the early 20th century and the 1960s, there is 00:08:58.980 --> 00:09:02.519 a morbid streak of sudden vacancies. James H. 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:06.320 Kyle dies in 1901. Peter Norbeck dies in 1936. 00:09:06.840 --> 00:09:09.960 Harlan J. Bushfield in 1948. Francis Case in 00:09:09.960 --> 00:09:13.679 1962. It creates these sudden chaotic breaks 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:16.299 in the timeline, jarring the entire system. It 00:09:16.299 --> 00:09:18.460 is a stark reminder of the fragile human element 00:09:18.460 --> 00:09:21.059 underpinning this rigid federal machine. When 00:09:21.059 --> 00:09:23.320 a senator dies in office, it triggers a scramble. 00:09:23.399 --> 00:09:25.139 Right, because the seat can't just stay empty. 00:09:25.399 --> 00:09:28.139 Exactly. The state governor typically appoints 00:09:28.139 --> 00:09:30.700 someone to temporarily fill the vacancy. Yeah. 00:09:31.210 --> 00:09:33.370 But what is so striking about these succession 00:09:33.370 --> 00:09:36.970 chains is how poorly these appointed incumbents 00:09:36.970 --> 00:09:39.509 fared. when they tried to hold on to the power 00:09:39.509 --> 00:09:41.730 permanently. It seems like being the appointed 00:09:41.730 --> 00:09:44.129 incumbent actually offered a disadvantage. It 00:09:44.129 --> 00:09:46.649 really did. Take Herbert Hitchcock, for example. 00:09:46.889 --> 00:09:50.110 He was appointed in December 1936 to continue 00:09:50.110 --> 00:09:53.029 Peter Norbeck's term. But when it came time to 00:09:53.029 --> 00:09:56.029 try and win the seat outright, he lost the nomination 00:09:56.029 --> 00:09:59.350 for a full term. You see the exact same pattern 00:09:59.350 --> 00:10:02.450 decades later with Joe Bottom, appointed in July 00:10:02.450 --> 00:10:06.409 1962 to finish Francis Case's term, but subsequently 00:10:06.409 --> 00:10:09.299 lost it. bid for a full term. They had the title, 00:10:09.379 --> 00:10:11.600 but they hadn't earned the mandate from the voters. 00:10:11.919 --> 00:10:14.220 The electorate seemed to view them as placeholders 00:10:14.220 --> 00:10:16.480 rather than legitimate successors. That makes 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:18.519 a lot of sense. And that dynamic of temporary 00:10:18.519 --> 00:10:20.580 placeholders occasionally opened the door for 00:10:20.580 --> 00:10:23.179 female representation, which was exceedingly 00:10:23.179 --> 00:10:25.679 rare during those decades. Right. Two specific 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:28.299 names emerged from these tragedies, Gladys Pyle 00:10:28.299 --> 00:10:31.519 and Vera C. Bushfield. Gladys Pyle, a Republican, 00:10:31.799 --> 00:10:34.720 was elected in 1938 specifically to finish the 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:37.720 remainder of Peter Norbeck's vacant term. She 00:10:37.720 --> 00:10:40.299 served a very brief transitional period just 00:10:40.299 --> 00:10:44.460 from November 1938 to January 1939 before retiring 00:10:44.460 --> 00:10:46.659 as the newly elected senator took over for the 00:10:46.659 --> 00:10:49.279 full term. Ten years later, we see another instance. 00:10:49.700 --> 00:10:52.720 Vera C. Bushfield, also a Republican, was appointed 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:54.840 to finish her husband Harlan's term after his 00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:57.320 sudden death. She served for just a few months, 00:10:57.340 --> 00:11:00.360 from October to December 1948, and then actually 00:11:00.360 --> 00:11:02.860 resigned early once her elected successor was 00:11:02.860 --> 00:11:05.600 ready, simply to give him a slight jump on Senate 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:09.320 seniority. What stands out to you when you examine 00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:11.600 that era, the political establishment often relied 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:14.379 on these highly pragmatic short term solutions, 00:11:14.500 --> 00:11:17.039 electing a transitional candidate or appointing 00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:19.519 a grieving spouse just to maintain the constitutional 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:22.200 balance of power and keep the seat warm. It feels 00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:24.200 like a holding pattern. The system was terrified 00:11:24.200 --> 00:11:26.879 of a vacuum, so it prioritized immediate stability 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:29.320 over long term ambition during those transition 00:11:29.320 --> 00:11:31.500 periods. Exactly. Keep the seat filled. Keep 00:11:31.500 --> 00:11:34.240 the votes counting. Right. And stability is something 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:36.700 that was incredibly hard to come by in the state's 00:11:36.700 --> 00:11:39.600 political history, with one massive exception. 00:11:39.860 --> 00:11:42.519 Oh, here we go. Amidst all this turnover, tragedy 00:11:42.519 --> 00:11:45.720 and temporary appointments, South Dakota did 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:48.100 produce an absolute marathon runner Republican, 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:51.559 Carl E. Munt. He holds the record as the longest 00:11:51.559 --> 00:11:53.980 serving senator in the state's history, holding 00:11:53.980 --> 00:11:58.029 a seat from 1948 all the way to 1973. That spans 00:11:58.029 --> 00:12:01.649 from the 81st Congress entirely through the 92nd 00:12:01.649 --> 00:12:05.289 Congress. 25 years of unbroken institutional 00:12:05.289 --> 00:12:08.169 endurance. It is a massive block of continuity. 00:12:08.509 --> 00:12:11.330 But what makes Munt's longevity so incredible 00:12:11.330 --> 00:12:13.629 is just how brutal the electoral meat grinder 00:12:13.629 --> 00:12:16.370 was for almost everyone else. This raises an 00:12:16.370 --> 00:12:18.570 important question about how secure an incumbent 00:12:18.570 --> 00:12:21.830 seat really is. We often assume that once a politician 00:12:21.830 --> 00:12:24.029 reaches the U .S. Senate, they are practically 00:12:24.029 --> 00:12:26.909 invincible until they face a charismatic challenger. 00:12:26.990 --> 00:12:28.970 from the opposing party. Yeah, that's the standard 00:12:28.970 --> 00:12:31.389 assumption. But the history here reveals a startling 00:12:31.389 --> 00:12:34.149 pattern of senators failing to even secure their 00:12:34.149 --> 00:12:36.409 own party's nomination for reelection. Wait, 00:12:36.490 --> 00:12:39.009 if they are losing renomination, that completely 00:12:39.009 --> 00:12:42.210 shifts how we view incumbency. It changes everything. 00:12:42.490 --> 00:12:44.210 It means the threat wasn't coming from across 00:12:44.210 --> 00:12:46.210 the aisle. It was coming from inside the House. 00:12:46.309 --> 00:12:49.009 You see it over and over again. Alfred B. Kittredge 00:12:49.009 --> 00:12:52.299 in 1908 lost renomination. Yep. Coe Crawford 00:12:52.299 --> 00:12:55.539 in 1914 lost renomination. William J. Boulot 00:12:55.539 --> 00:12:59.259 in 1942 lost renomination. Chan Gurney in 1950 00:12:59.259 --> 00:13:01.259 lost renomination. They couldn't even make it 00:13:01.259 --> 00:13:03.980 to the general election ballot. It suggests that. 00:13:04.440 --> 00:13:07.100 the local party machine or the grassroots base 00:13:07.100 --> 00:13:10.500 was arguably more lethal than the general election. 00:13:10.700 --> 00:13:14.000 Definitely. The party faithful were fiercely 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:17.100 critical and absolutely not content to just rubber 00:13:17.100 --> 00:13:19.440 stamp an incumbent. Yeah. If you fell out of 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:21.600 favor with the local power brokers or the primary 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:24.080 voters in South Dakota, your federal career was 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:26.080 terminated before the national campaign even 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:28.539 began. It paints a picture of a fiercely competitive, 00:13:28.840 --> 00:13:32.220 highly engaged environment. And that competitiveness 00:13:32.220 --> 00:13:34.980 creates this incredibly rich tapestry of names 00:13:34.980 --> 00:13:37.759 that shaped the modern era. It really does. When 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:39.399 you move through the latter half of the 20th 00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:41.379 century and into the 21st, you see this constant 00:13:41.379 --> 00:13:44.759 dynamic back and forth swing in both the class 00:13:44.759 --> 00:13:47.100 two and class three seats. You have significant 00:13:47.100 --> 00:13:50.559 Democratic mainstays serving long, highly influential 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:54.200 tenures. George McGovern serving from 1963 to 00:13:54.200 --> 00:13:58.659 1981. James Aberesk in the 1970s. Tim Johnson 00:13:58.659 --> 00:14:02.840 serving from 1997 all the way to 2015. And interspersed 00:14:02.840 --> 00:14:05.340 right alongside them, you have prominent Republicans 00:14:05.340 --> 00:14:07.740 capturing and holding those very same seats. 00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:11.100 Larry Pressler, who served from 1979 to 1997. 00:14:12.250 --> 00:14:14.870 James Abnor in the 1980s. Right. The state's 00:14:14.870 --> 00:14:17.370 voters clearly never treated either Senate seat 00:14:17.370 --> 00:14:19.750 as a guaranteed monopoly for one party or the 00:14:19.750 --> 00:14:22.330 other. It functioned as a true battleground where 00:14:22.330 --> 00:14:24.809 institutional endurance had to be earned election 00:14:24.809 --> 00:14:27.149 by election. And to fully grasp the weight of 00:14:27.149 --> 00:14:29.110 these Senate seats, we have to look at the broader 00:14:29.110 --> 00:14:31.850 congressional picture. Today, those two senators 00:14:31.850 --> 00:14:34.309 are joined by exactly one representative in the 00:14:34.309 --> 00:14:37.110 U .S. House. Republican Dusty Johnson. Because 00:14:37.110 --> 00:14:39.269 of the Sturt's population size, they only get 00:14:39.269 --> 00:14:42.070 a single at -large congressional district. Exactly. 00:14:42.250 --> 00:14:43.970 So you have a total congressional delegation 00:14:43.970 --> 00:14:46.009 of three individuals representing the entire 00:14:46.009 --> 00:14:47.970 state in Washington. Which places an enormous 00:14:47.970 --> 00:14:50.950 amount of focus, resources, and pressure on every 00:14:50.950 --> 00:14:53.509 single one of those federal campaigns. So what 00:14:53.509 --> 00:14:56.620 does this all mean? We started today with what 00:14:56.620 --> 00:14:59.299 looked like a simple, unadorned list of names 00:14:59.299 --> 00:15:01.620 and dates. It's a table on Wikipedia. Just a 00:15:01.620 --> 00:15:04.940 table. But by taking the time to truly read between 00:15:04.940 --> 00:15:07.299 the lines, we've traveled from the state's inception 00:15:07.299 --> 00:15:11.480 in 1889 to the present day. We watch desperate 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:14.279 farmers force their politicians to morph into 00:15:14.279 --> 00:15:17.639 silver Republicans just to survive an economic 00:15:17.639 --> 00:15:21.529 crisis. We tracked the bizarre quirks of age 00:15:21.529 --> 00:15:24.370 versus seniority, witnessed the sheer historical 00:15:24.370 --> 00:15:27.409 drama of a future majority leader unseating a 00:15:27.409 --> 00:15:29.990 former majority leader, and uncovered the brutal 00:15:29.990 --> 00:15:32.750 reality of a primary system where incumbents 00:15:32.750 --> 00:15:34.409 are constantly looking over their shoulders, 00:15:34.570 --> 00:15:37.070 terrified of their own party's voters. It is 00:15:37.070 --> 00:15:40.009 a remarkable historical footprint that challenges 00:15:40.009 --> 00:15:41.889 a lot of assumptions about political stability. 00:15:42.129 --> 00:15:44.549 It really does. And before we wrap up, I want 00:15:44.549 --> 00:15:46.110 to leave you with the final thought to mull over 00:15:46.110 --> 00:15:49.039 on your own. We just discussed how South Dakota's 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:51.879 entire federal delegation consists of only three 00:15:51.879 --> 00:15:54.720 people, two senators and one House representative. 00:15:54.759 --> 00:15:57.240 In a state where the Senate holds such an outsized 00:15:57.240 --> 00:16:00.220 proportion of the region's overall national power. 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:03.399 Does that structural imbalance fundamentally 00:16:03.399 --> 00:16:06.820 change the type of politician who survives the 00:16:06.820 --> 00:16:10.179 grueling primary battles we explored? When the 00:16:10.179 --> 00:16:12.360 mathematical value of a single Senate seat is 00:16:12.360 --> 00:16:15.059 so intensely concentrated, it begs the question, 00:16:15.220 --> 00:16:17.620 does the system inherently select for a more 00:16:17.620 --> 00:16:20.320 ruthless, highly adaptable political survivor 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:22.840 than you might find in a state with 50 House 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:25.460 representatives padding the delegation? It is 00:16:25.460 --> 00:16:28.690 a structural puzzle waiting to be solved. A perfect 00:16:28.690 --> 00:16:31.450 question to ponder until our next stack of sources 00:16:31.450 --> 00:16:34.370 awaits. Thank you so much for joining us for 00:16:34.370 --> 00:16:36.970 this custom -tailored deep dive. We hope it gave 00:16:36.970 --> 00:16:38.929 you a whole new perspective on the hidden mechanics 00:16:38.929 --> 00:16:42.289 of American politics. Keep asking questions and 00:16:42.289 --> 00:16:42.990 stay curious.