Brad Johnson: Impeachment shines spotlight on Republican Party convention in Watertown

South Dakota’s future attorney general, secretary of state and a handful of other constitutional offices will be decided this weekend in the most undemocratic of methods – the South Dakota Republican Party Convention in Watertown.

It’s a system that gives a distinct minority undue power over state politics. It has given a far-right faction influence to label moderate to conservative Republicans as liberals, much to the chagrin of liberal Democrats.

About 900 people will select either Marty Jackley or David Natvig to replace impeached Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg.

More:Former South Dakota AG Marty Jackley wants his old job back. Here, he talks abortion and marijuana

Jackley was term-limited as attorney general and succeeded by Ravnsborg. Department of Criminal Investigation Director Natvig was implicated in Tuesday’s Senate impeachment hearings for misleading investigators about Ravnsborg’s actions following his car accident that killed Joseph Boever on Sept. 12, 2020.

“The Senate was left with the distinct impression (on Tuesday) that Dave Natvig lied to the House, but the House leadership didn’t pursue it,” Sen. Lee Schoenbeck, R-Watertown, said.

Natvig has denied he was untruthful.

If the House had acted properly, Schoenbeck said, this week’s impeachment proceedings, might not have occurred.

More:Detective says DCI director misled lawmakers during Jason Ravnsborg impeachment probe

Even so, Ross Garber, a Tulane University law professor and legal analyst, argued that impeachment was not warranted.

Garber, in his speech for Ravnsborg’s defense, told the Senate, “What you are here for is incredibly rare in the American experience.”

He added, “No elected official in South Dakota has been removed in the entire history of this state.”

Schoenbeck called Garber’s speech a “lie by omission. Most of them (impeachments) don’t happen because the people resign,” he said, adding that he believed Ravnsborg would resign at the last minute, avoiding impeachment.

Now, Schoenbeck thinks Ravnsborg “actually believed that the Senate would acquit him. He only missed by one vote on the first count,” the veteran lawmaker said.

Article 1, which related to the traffic violations that led to his impeachment, passed 24-9. A second article that dealt with malfeasance in office passed 31-2, and a third vote barring him from ever holding public office passed unanimously.

Schoenbeck blamed Ravnsborg’s refusal to resign on leadership in the South Dakota House of Representatives.

“It was a perception that he wouldn’t be impeached,” Schoenbeck said. “The fact that the House leadership was covering this up for him for a year gave him every reason to believe he was going to get away with it.”

The House voted 36-31 to impeach Ravnsborg in April. A majority of the 70 members was required. The House impeachment process was widely criticized, and Schoenbeck said House Leader Spencer Gosch “put his thumb on scale and that emboldened Ravnsborg to think he could get away with it.”

Garber said Ravnsborg’s killing of Boever’s was unrelated to his job.

“This is undoing the will of the voters,” Garber said. “Make no mistake, that is what you are doing.”

More:Gov. Kristi Noem says 'dark cloud' over Attorney General office lifted after impeachment

Schoenbeck disagreed and, in a speech on the Senate floor, said, “If it was anybody besides the attorney general that did that to your neighbor, your family, your friend, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. Why this is dragged out, why we’re even having this trial, is beyond me. This is only because of the assorted political agendas other folks have. There should have been a resignation a long time ago. There should have been contrition that hasn’t happened and there should be impeachment.”

Schoenbeck said he believes at least six senators changed their minds and voted in favor of Article 1 as they listened to the other senators. That article, which dealt with traffic offenses Ravensborg pleaded guilty to, “had more nuances” to it than did Article 2, which focused on malfeasance in office.

More:DCI Director David Natvig wants to be South Dakota's next attorney general. Here's why.

The vote to bar Ravnsborg from future office was “more of a formality,” Schoenbeck said.

The entire process went quickly and smoothly, he said, given the rarity of such proceedings.

One thing the impeachment has made clear, he said, “is that we need to pay attention to the attorney general nomination. Four years ago, there were no decent (Republican) nominees. We also can’t have people with odd political perspectives in charge,” referring specifically to former House speakers Gosch and Steve Haugaard.

More:How prosecutors scored a one-two punch in Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg's impeachment trial

Because South Dakota’s politics are so lopsided toward Republicans, convention delegates this weekend will set the tone for the next four years. Let’s hope the delegates choose wisely.

Brad Johnson is a Watertown businessman and journalist who is active in state and local affairs.