SD House Speaker Loses Bid To Move To State Senate

by Associated Press
June 05, 2012 10:37 PM


South Dakota House Speaker Val Rausch of Big Stone City has lost his bid to move to the state Senate.
 
Rausch had challenged Sen. Tim Begalka of Clear Lake in a Republican primary, but Begalka won with more than two-thirds of the vote.
 
Rausch was one of five Senate candidates who were endorsed by Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard, but Begalka says the governor's endorsement backfired. Begalka says voters in the area are pretty independent and resented the governor's interference in the race.
 
Rausch says Begalka used misleading false ads against him. But Begalka says it's time for Rausch to leave the Legislature because the power of his leadership position went to his head.