The Grant County Democrats met, Tuesday, August 1 in Milbank to reorganize prior to the upcoming 2018 election. According to Kathy Tyler, who spearheads the reorganization of the Grant County Democrats, a South Dakota Democrat differs from what most people perceive as the far left. “South Dakota Democrats prioritize families, a good education, a fair wage, good working conditions, and access to health care. We are an accepting group of people. We have members who are pro-life and pro-choice. We support first and second amendment rights and appreciate common sense legislation. Legislation proposed by the Democrats includes ethic reform, support for education, families and small business. I see the Democratic party as a party who really cares about people. We are not the ‘let’s increase taxes’ party; we are not the give the poor everything party. We are a party that believes in teaching a person to fish, instead of feeding them the fish.”
Tyler says, the Grant County Democrats have been organized for many years, but not active. “We tried to get things started about four years ago, but there wasn’t much interest.” She says she gave it another try after Democrats suffered devastating losses in the 2016 election. “We started getting together about six months ago. The main topic was frustration with the current administration. There was a lot of complaining, but not much was getting done, so we started inviting speakers. Senator Jason Frerichs spoke on water issues, including meandered waters. Representative Spence Hawley talked about Medicaid expansion and the health insurance industry. We’ve discussed the national budget. We try to find things that teach us – show us the facts.”
According to Tyler, one thing attendees always ask is “What can we do?” “That’s why I invited Sam Parkinson, the executive director of the South Dakota Democratic Party.” Parkinson was the guest speaker at the group’s meeting August 1, at the Grant County Library.
Tyler, who has been a Democrat all her life, says after serving for two years in the South Dakota Legislature and seeing what politics is about, she said ” I won’t be changing”. “Yes, there are bad apples in our party, just as in other parties. That’s life. Do I agree with every tenet of the Democratic party? No. I don’t agree with my husband all of the time either! But, to sit back and do nothing is not in my blood. Doing nothing is just accepting the status quo.”
Staff
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