Bengs, Gronli criticize GOP opponents’ late midterm bus tour

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) - Independent candidate for U.S. Senate Brian Bengs and Democratic U.S. House candidate Nikki Gronli criticized the optics of a bus tour launched by their Republican opponents.

Senate candidate Mike Rounds and House candidate Marty Jackley, as well as Republican gubernatorial candidate Larry Rhoden, launched a bus tour Monday, Oct. 26 to drive turnout among campaign supporters and potential voters.

Bengs directly criticized Rounds in an Oct. 27 interview with KOTA Territory News, saying his opponent is more vulnerable in their race than it appears.

“Mike Rounds is in a very serious race, and I’m challenging him on actual, genuine issues,” Bengs said. “He’s concerned that he doesn’t have the capacity by himself to get voters motivated, so he’s trying to ride the coattails of the other candidates.”

At the GOP contenders’ Oct. 26 Rapid City stop, KOTA Territory asked the candidates if they were worried their midterm races would be closer than recent polling suggests.

An Oct. 17 ABC News survey showed President Trump’s job approval rating registered at 33% — the broadcaster described the figure as a “record low” — which could have an impact on Republicans in other races.

South Dakota registered voters, too, appear divided on Trump: A South Dakota News Watch poll published Oct. 28 showed those surveyed were split on the president, with 49% approving and 49% disapproving of his job performance.

Rhoden dismissed polling writ large, saying “We’re not paying attention to polling.”

Jackley said they were treating the midterms like any other election.

“We’re all of the same mindset,” Jackley, who is currently South Dakota’s attorney general, said. “We treat like every race like we’re five points down.”

Rounds also downplayed turnout concerns, saying the bus tour was simply an effort to “tell people, No. 1, we appreciate all your support ... [and] the way that you’ve messaged it.”

“But what this is about — only one poll is important, and that is the one that is on Election Day or when an individual goes in and decides in advance that they want to vote,” Rounds said. “My message out there is vote early. Just don’t vote often.”

Gronli, Jackley’s opponent in the race for South Dakota’s lone House seat, suggested their races will be closer than what recent polling and the Republican candidates suggest due to voter anxiety cost-of-living and fuel increases under the Trump administration.

“For our Republican counterparts out there running, they are having to answer for what is actually going on in America, which is the price everyone is paying for these tariffs, and the fact that we’ve got members of Congress right now who have not been a check on the power of the executive branch.”

Michael Card, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of South Dakota, questioned the necessity of the bus tour, but he remained skeptical that the Republicans’ joint effort was primarily intended to shore up any political vulnerabilities between the three — or that their races would be closely contested at all.

Card told KOTA Territory News in an Oct. 27 interview that the last-minute campaign pitch is more likely a way to encourage Republican enthusiasm in other South Dakota contests, such as the closely contested secretary of state race, as well as legislative races.

“Why are you doing this in the last week when people have been voting for 38 days?“ Card said. ”But, it may be that they’re worried about down-ballot [races].”

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