Tim Johnson (upper picture) is still in critical but stable condition after emergency brain surgery Thursday night. We wish the best for the Senator and his family.
However, with all the talk about the consequences of life in the Senate without Tim Johnson, this may be a good time to look at just how he became a Senator in the first place.
After serving in the House as a congressman representing South Dakota, Tim Johnson won a narrow victory in a Senate race over John Thune (center picture) in 2002. Thune went on to defeat the then Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (lower picture) in 2004.
Tim Johnson was losing to Thune in 2002 until the Democrats allegedly flooded the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation with operatives distributing cash to registered voters.
Shannon County gave Tim Johnson nearly 90% of the vote even though the registrations showed a much lower percent of registered Democrats. It was enough to give Johnson the victory in a very close (500 vote margin) race.You won’t read about this in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader but handing out small amounts of cash to voters on Indian Reservations at election time is nothing new to South Dakota.
Tom Daschle allegedly did it as well as Bill Janklow a former Republican four-term Governor of South Dakota.
A picture of my cave
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