South Dakota’s Largest Newspaper Backs Independent Pressler

South Dakota’s dominant newspaper, The Argus Leader, injected some much needed life into the Larry Pressler for U.S. Senate campaign today.  With only a few days left before voters head to the polls, the Leader published a full-throated endorsement of the former Republican Senator who is mounting a comeback bid as an independent.

Pressler surged into serious contention in early October when a SurveyUSA poll put him at 32%, only 3 points behind Republican front-runner Mike Rounds and ahead of the Democratic nominee. Since then, he has endured a crushing avalanche of negative ads that forced his numbers back to a distant third place with about 15% support in most polls. However, the most recent poll in the race, which was released on Wednesday by Rasmussen Reports, showed voters once again warming toward the independent. In that survey, Pressler is back to 21% and trails Democrat Rick Weiland by 10 points.

Will this endorsement cause voters to take a second look at Pressler’s candidacy? His favorability numbers suggest that he’s well positioned as the second choice of most South Dakotans.

Read the full story: “Endorsement: Pressler best choice for Senate”

He professes a middle-of-the-road, moderately conservative political philosophy that we think is in line with the bulk of South Dakotans.

When we use our checklist to evaluate the candidates, Larry Pressler comes out on top.

We urge you to outline your expectations for our next senator. And we think you, too, might decide Pressler is the best fit for South Dakota at this time.