Stephanie Herseth Sandlin | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2009 | |
| President ofAugustana University | |
| Assumed office August 1, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Rob Oliver |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromSouth Dakota'sat-large district | |
| In office July 12, 2004 – January 3, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Bill Janklow |
| Succeeded by | Kristi Noem |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Stephanie Marie Herseth (1970-12-03)December 3, 1970 (age 54) Houghton, South Dakota, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Relatives | Lars Herseth (father) Ralph Herseth (grandfather) Lorna Herseth (grandmother) |
| Education | Georgetown University (BS,JD) |
Stephanie Marie Herseth Sandlin (born December 3, 1970) is an American attorney, university administrator, and politician from theDemocratic Party. She representedSouth Dakota's at-large congressional district in theUnited States House of Representatives from 2004 until 2011. Sandlin was first elected to Congress in aJuly 2004 special election and won three full terms before losing toRepublicanKristi Noem in2010. She was the youngest female member of the House, and the first woman elected to the House fromSouth Dakota. Before her 2007 marriage toMax Sandlin, she was known as Stephanie Herseth. She is aDemocrat and a member of theHerseth family ofSouth Dakota. She and SenatorTim Johnson are also the last Democrats to win a statewide or federal election in South Dakota.
Since 2017, she has served as president ofAugustana University.
Stephanie Herseth was born on December 3, 1970, the daughter of Joyce (née Styles) andRalph Lars Herseth, and was raised on her family's farm nearHoughton. Her father's family had been active for two generations in South Dakota politics. Her paternal grandfather,Ralph Herseth, was thegovernor of South Dakota, and her paternal grandmother,Lorna Herseth, was South Dakota'ssecretary of state. Her father,Lars Herseth, served in theSouth Dakota State Legislature for two decades and ran for governor in 1986. Her ancestry includes German and Norwegian.[1]
Herseth graduated from Groton High School inGroton, South Dakota. She earned herBachelor of Science fromGeorgetown University in 1993 and herJuris Doctor fromGeorgetown University Law Center in 1997.[2]
After law school, Herseth worked as ajudicial law clerk to JudgeCharles B. Kornmann of theUnited States District Court for the District of South Dakota and JudgeDiana Gribbon Motz on theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. She worked in private practice as an attorney inWashington, D.C., and taught at theGeorgetown University Law Center.
Before her election to the House, Herseth was executive director of the South Dakota Farmer's Union Foundation and served on the board of directors of First Bank and Trust ofBrookings, South Dakota.
| Committee assignments |
During her tenure in the House, Herseth Sandlin was assigned to committees of concern to her constituency. The Agriculture Committee affects South Dakota's largest industry, and the Natural Resources Committee has jurisdiction over national forests in theBlack Hills and policies affecting the state's nine federally recognizedNative American tribes. She was selected to serve on the Select Committee on Global Warming and Energy Independence based upon her work on issues related tobiofuels andrenewable energy in rural America.[3]
Herseth Sandlin was a seniorwhip in the House and co-chaired theconservative DemocraticBlue Dog Coalition.[4]
Herseth Sandlin voted against theAffordable Health Care for America Act.[5] She said she would "not vote for the Senate bill as is" and would "not vote for a package of changes that would go through the reconciliation process."[6]
Herseth Sandlin opposed her party's leadership on some issues related togun rights, which won her the support of theNRA Political Victory Fund.[7][8] She ispro-choice and expressed opposition to Referred Law 6, which sought to ban abortions in South Dakota, including those for victims of incest and rape. She supported theEmployment Nondiscrimination Act in 2007.
Early in the2008 presidential election cycle, Herseth Sandlin supported SenatorJohn Edwards. On February 26, 2008, she endorsedBarack Obama.
Herseth ran unsuccessfully for theUnited States House of Representatives in2002, losing a high-profile race toRepublican governorBill Janklow by a smaller than expected margin.[1]
After Janklow was convicted ofmanslaughter in a motor vehicle accident, he resigned his seat, effective January 20, 2004, triggering a special election. Herseth was the Democratic nominee, and on June 1, 2004, defeated Republican nominee Larry Diedrich with 51% of the vote. The victory gave South Dakota its first all-Democratic congressional delegation since 1937, includingSenatorsTom Daschle andTim Johnson.
In the regularly scheduled election in November 2004, Herseth beat Diedrich again, with 53.4% of the vote. The vote margin in June was about 3,000 votes, but by the November election, which included a hard-fought contest for Daschle's Senate seat, it grew to more than 29,000. Both the 2004 special and general elections were close compared to most House races the country, and garnered national attention.
In November 2006, Herseth easily defeated Republican nominee Bruce Whalen. She received the second-highest vote total for a Democratic candidate for the House in 2006.[9]
In the November 2008 general election, Herseth Sandlin won a landslide victory over lawyer attorney Chris Lien, winning every county in the state.[10]
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Herseth Sandlin was mentioned as a possible, even likely, candidate forgovernor of South Dakota in2010,[11] but announced on July 7, 2009, that she would seek reelection to the House.[11]
Before the Democratic primary, Kevin Weiland, a physician who had begun a campaign against Herseth Sandlin but had not yet filed to be on the ballot, called off his efforts. He said he had "concern for what the net effect would be on our political party retaining the seat in the next Congress, but also after receiving assurances from Stephanie that she will not vote to repeal the recently passed health care reform law."[12] He spoke to Democratic party leaders as well as Herseth Sandlin before making this decision.[13] TheRepublican nominee,State RepresentativeKristi Noem, charged that Weiland's decision not to run was due to Herseth Sandlin trading her vote for personal gain. Herseth Sandlin strongly denied the allegation and said there was noquid pro quo arrangement between her and Weiland.[13]
During the campaign, Noem also criticized Herseth Sandlin's husband,Max Sandlin, a lobbyist and former congressman. Noem said his list of clients included companies that had interests in legislation that would come before Congress, and suggested he would have improper influence because of his marriage.[14][15] TheRapid City Journal editorial board wrote that Herseth Sandlin should take this concern seriously.[16]Roll Call called Noem's charges an attempt "to stoke anti-Beltway emotions".[14] Herseth Sandlin's campaign responded that she did not allow family members to lobby her or her staff.[14]
Herseth Sandlin's campaign was hampered by the state Democratic Party's inability to field a candidate against Republican nomineeJohn Thune for U.S. Senate; "by letting him breeze to re-election, Republicans could turn all their energy and money to the House race, and state Rep. Kristi Noem was able to unseat Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, the last best hope for a Democratic future in the state."[17]
Noem defeated Herseth Sandlin in the November 2 general election with 48.14% of the vote to Herseth Sandlin's 45.9%.[18]
After losing reelection, Herseth Sandlin joined the Washington, D.C., firm ofOlsson Frank Weeda Terman Matz as a principal attorney focusing on federal laws and regulations.[19][20] She toldRoll Call that she might register to lobby Congress after the expiration of the mandatory one-year waiting period that bars former members from doing so.[21] Ultimately, she did not register as a lobbyist after the cooling-off period ended.[22]
Although Herseth Sandlin did not run in 2012, political commentators suggested that she might seek theU.S. Senate seat being vacated byTim Johnson in 2014. Ultimately, she decided not to run, citing her son and her desire to continue in her role as Legal Counsel atRaven Industries inSioux Falls, South Dakota.[23][24][25]
Herseth Sandlin served briefly as anadjunct professor at theDepartment of Political Science atSouth Dakota State University.[26] In February 2017, it was announced that she would become the 24th president ofAugustana University, a liberal arts college inSioux Falls.[27]
In March 2007, Herseth marriedMax Sandlin, a four-term Democratic congressman fromTexas and registeredlobbyist with the lobbying and public relations firm Mercury, who is 18 years her senior.[28] The couple met when Herseth first ran for Congress in 2002.[29] He was defeated for reelection in 2004.[30]
Upon her marriage, she became known as Stephanie Herseth Sandlin.[30] The couple has a son, born in 2008.[31]
Herseth Sandlin's claim that transparency and disclosure are adequate doesn't cut it. She should not be laughing off this legitimate concern.
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Memberof theU.S. House of Representatives fromSouth Dakota's at-large congressional district 2004–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chair of theBlue Dog Coalition for Administration 2009–2011 Served alongside:Charlie Melancon,Jim Matheson (Communications),Baron Hill (Policy) | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
| Twoat-large seats (1889–1913) |
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| Districts (1913–1983) |
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| One at-large seat (1983–present) |
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