Rep. Stephanie Herseth (D-At Large) Elected June 2004, 1st full term
Born:	Dec. 3, 1970, Aberdeen
Home:	Brookings
Education:	Georgetown U., B.A. 1993, M.A. 1996, J.D. 1997
Religion:	Lutheran
Marital Status:	single
Professional Career:	Clerk, U.S. District Court, Judge Charles Kornmann 1998-99; Clerk, Judge Diana Gribbon Motz, U.S. Court of Appeals, 1999-2000; Practicing atty., 2000-01; Ex. Dir., SD Farmers Union Foundation, 2003; Legal cnsl., South Dakota Made Store, 2003.
DC Office	331 CHOB20515, 202-225-2801; Fax: 202-225-5823; Web site: http://www.house.gov/herseth/
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South Dakota's lone member of the House is Stephanie Herseth, a Democrat first chosen in a June 2004 special election. Herseth grew up on a farm near Brookings in northeastern South Dakota, in a family with a fine political pedigree. Her grandfather Ralph Herseth was governor from 1958 to 1960. Her grandmother Lorna Herseth was secretary of state from 1972 to 1978. Her father Lars Herseth served in the legislature from 1974 to 1986 and 1988 to 1996; in 1986 he ran for governor and lost by only 52%-48%. In a state where voters expect to meet candidates the Herseths were well liked and well respected. Herseth graduated from Georgetown University and its law school, interned with Senator Tim Johnson (a college classmate of her father), clerked for federal judges in South Dakota and Maryland, taught at Georgetown law school and worked for big law firm in Washington. She turned down invitations to run against Attorney General Mark Barnett in 1998. In 2002 she decided to run for the House.

The seat was open because Republican incumbent John Thune, first elected in 1996, was running against Democratic Senator Tim Johnson; he lost that race narrowly, then beat Senator Tom Daschle in 2004. In the House race the clear favorite was Republican former Governor Bill Janklow. Blunt, plain-spoken and often tactless, Janklow announced for the House in March 2002 pledging to be a "sledgehammer." In the June primary he beat former Senator Larry Pressler 55%-27%, while Herseth beat the 1996 Democratic House nominee, Rick Weiland, by a 58%-32% margin. She was in her own right a dynamic candidate, articulate and eager to meet people. She also proved to be a great fundraiser: with help from EMILY's List, she raised $1.5 million, more than Janklow's $1.3 million.

Herseth, who started running when she was only 30, argued that South Dakota had "a tradition of sending young passionate leaders to Congress," and cited Democrats Tom Daschle and Tim Johnson and Republicans Larry Pressler and John Thune, all first elected in their 30s. She avoided phrases that might be construed as "liberal," saying "that's not a term that's respected here." When asked about abortion, she would typically say she wanted to make it "as rare as possible." When asked about gun control she noted that she grew up on a farm in pheasant hunting country and said she saw no need for new restrictions on guns. For her part, Herseth was respectful of Janklow. "When I made the decision to seek office, I never thought I would be running against Bill Janklow. He is larger than life, especially for people of my generation." She noted that, while she was still in high school, then-Governor Janklow took time from his schedule to answer questions from her for a report she was writing.

The two candidates agreed on many local issues but they differed in their approaches to Iraq. In September 2002 Janklow said, "I'd love to have the support of our allies, but it's the American World Trade Center they flew the planes into. I'd love to have the support of our allies, but if we can't get the support of these people, then in this war they're not our allies, and we may have to go it alone." Herseth said, "We are looking at putting our men and women in urban warfare, hand-to-hand combat on the streets of Baghdad. I view it as a sliding scale. To the extent that we have little support from allies, the need goes way up for congressional approval. With more allied support, the bar goes down a little for congressional approval."

By September the polls suggested that this was an even race. Herseth was an attractive and energetic candidate, while some South Dakotans thought that Janklow had just run to block Pressler and was not really interested in the job. Janklow stepped up his campaign pace and the NRCC bought up a block of TV time for the six weeks before the election. But in contrast to the Senate race, the ads in this contest were all positive. When the NRCC ran a spot attacking Herseth as a carpetbagger, Janklow insisted it be pulled. Janklow evidently pulled ahead in October, as the nation contemplated military action in Iraq, and on Election Day he won 53%-46%. But Janklow's House career was cut short. In August 2003 he sped through a stop sign in his Cadillac and killed a motorcyclist. He was indicted, tried and, in December 2003, convicted of felony manslaughter, and immediately announced that he would resign. Governor Mike Rounds declared that the vacancy would be filled in a special election held in June 2004, the same day as South Dakota's primary. The two parties would nominate candidates.

After the 2002 election Herseth taught at South Dakota State University and headed the South Dakota Farmers Union Foundation. She was the obvious choice for the House race for the Democrats, and was unanimously chosen in March 2004. The Republican nominee was state Senator Larry Diedrich, a corn, hog and soybean farmer who had headed the South Dakota and American Soybean Associations and served eight years in the legislature. Herseth campaigned as a "fiscally conservative and ideologically moderate" candidate; she called for changes in the 2003 Medicare/prescription drug act and a ban on meatpacker ownership of livestock. She supported abortion rights; he opposed abortion and criticized her for refusing to promise to vote for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. He also criticized her opposition to making some tax cuts permanent and focused attention on her lack of life experience. Herseth, who was single, said, "A lot of people today know women, or even have women in their family, who have postponed marriage and family-raising for professional reasons. Some of the stereotypes that were once out there are not so strong any more." Herseth started off far ahead in the polls. But Diedrich campaigned hard and caught up by late May. The result on June 1 was almost even: Herseth won 51%-49%, with a popular vote margin of just 3,005. Turnout in the heavily Republican Black Hills area was low; Herseth carried the Indian reservations by wide margins.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic campaign committee Chairman Robert Matsui hailed Herseth's victory, as well as that of Ben Chandler in the Kentucky 6th in February, as proof that Democrats could win in districts carried by George W. Bush in 2000. Sometimes special elections are harbingers of results in November, sometimes not. These turned out not to be, but Pelosi gave Herseth committee assignments that positioned her well for November: Agriculture, Veterans' Affairs, Resources. Diedrich was the Republican nominee and, after recovering from heart surgery in June, kept on running. As in the special election contest, the candidates debated frequently and civilly; Herseth even gave Diedrich credit for lobbying an Appropriations subcommittee chairman for the Lewis and Clark Water Project. But negative notes were also struck. Ads run by Diedrich and national Republicans attacked Herseth for roll call votes--against making the marriage penalty ban, the child tax credit and the deductibility of state sales taxes permanent; against EPA authority to waive state laws requiring low-pollution gasoline blends. National Democrats ran ads criticizing Diedrich's votes as a legislator to increase taxes on gasoline, cell phones and hospitals and opposing abolition of the inheritance tax. Herseth said, "My litmus test is simple: what makes sense for South Dakota? That philosophy has often put me at odds with my party, but I ran for Congress not to vote in lockstep with my party, but to represent our state." At one debate Herseth was asked how she would vote if the presidential election went to the House. "I represent South Dakota. And I'm going to put South Dakota first," she said. When Diedrich pressed her to say whom she would vote for, she said, "I guess Larry is parsing my words. I would vote for George Bush for president." When Diedrich criticized her for calling liberal Manhattan Democrat Jerrold Nadler her mentor, Herseth said, "You know, my parents raised me to be polite and courteous. I have to work with people outside of our region to support policies that are right for rural America."

This race was overshadowed by the hot and even closer race between John Thune and Tom Daschle, in a state that everyone knew would vote for George W. Bush. But while Daschle lost, Herseth managed to widen her margin to 53%-46%. In her first full term she argued against reopening the border to imports of Canadian cattle and pushed for increasing by $226 million the payments to two South Dakota Indian tribes for land lost when flooded by Missouri River dams. She called for making veterans benefits an entitlement, not subject to annual appropriations. Many Democrats see her as a future national star; she could run for Tim Johnson's Senate seat if he retires in 2008, or for the governorship or against John Thune in 2010. Looking ahead in January 2005, she said, "Let's just say that while I haven't mapped out any long-term strategy, I'm not ruling anything out."

Committees

• Agriculture (10th of 21 D): Conservation, Credit, Rural Development & Research; General Farm Commodities & Risk Management; Livestock & Horticulture.
• Resources (22d of 22 D): Forests & Forest Health.
• Veterans' Affairs (7th of 12 D): Economic Opportunity (RMM).

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	55	40	75	56	75	13	50	31	31	--	--
2003	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	*	--	*		60%	--	40%
Social	*	--	*		55%	--	45%
Foreign	*	--	*		60%	--	39%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR * 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts * 3. Medicare/Rx Bill * 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. Y 5. DC School Vouchers * 6. Ban Human Cloning *		7. Restrict Gun Liability *  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion *  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage Y 10. Fund Iraq War * 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds Y 12. Intelligence Reorg. Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Stephanie Herseth (D)	207,837	53%	$4,026,661
	Larry Diedrich (R)	178,823	46%	$2,526,515
	Other	2,808	1%
2004 special	Stephanie Herseth (D)	132,420	51%
	Larry Diedrich (R)	129,415	49%
2002 general	Bill Janklow (R)	180,023	53%	$1,314,087
	Stephanie Herseth (D)	153,656	46%	$1,511,189
	Other	3,128	1%

2004 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 232,584 (60%) Kerry (D) 149,244 (38%)

2000 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 190,700 (60%) Gore (D) 118,804 (38%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the At-Large District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R +10
• District Size: 77,116 square miles
• Population in 2000: 754,844; 51.9% urban; 48.1% rural
• Median Household Income: $35,282; 13.2% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 23.3% blue collar; 59.1% white collar; 17.6% gray collar; 14.4% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 88.0% White, 0.6% Black, 0.6% Asian, 8.1% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 1.2% Two+ races, 0.0% Other, 1.4% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 29.1% German, 10.9% Norwegian, 7.4% Irish
• Click here for statewide demographic data.