Farmers Union feud could hinder redistricting reform
Union member: “Who are they to talk about election reform when they can’t even conduct their own?"
A faction within one of the state's largest agriculture organizations is working to oust the group's top officers and call a special convention to replace them.
The century-old South Dakota Farmers Union, which claims a membership of more than 17,000, lobbies on behalf of farmers and ranchers and has been a political force in the state on progressive issues. Most recently it led a petition drive to put redistricting reform on the 2016 general election ballot.
A resolution circulating at the union's district meetings challenges the results of its most recent officer election. Members in two of the organization's seven regional districts have voted in support of the resolution, which accuses the union's president, Doug Sombke, of suppressing participation in the election.
Sombke was first elected in 2005 and has been reelected five times, most recently at the union's biannual convention in December in Huron, where he faced a challenge from Garret Bischoff, a Beadle County rancher whose supporters are now challenging the election results.
MORE:Read the resolution and board of directors' response
Bischoff lost to Sombke on a 1,251-1,088 vote, but Bischoff and other union members who attended the convention allege some of the county delegates who voted were appointed within two weeks of the election and should not have been allowed to vote under the union's bylaws. Ninety-nine delegates from the union's districts and counties cast the vote representing the group's dues-paying members. The union currently has a dues-paying membership of about 3,561 according to a union spokeswoman.
“All of a sudden there are people who show up and don’t follow the bylaws of how to organize, and they were allowed to do that,” Bischoff said. “There are certainly some questions about how that took place."
The union's board of directors in a letter to members this month said those allegations are untrue and that the resolutions represent a small group "attempting to stunt the growth" of the union.
"We followed all of our bylaws," Kecia Beranek, a union spokeswoman said. "Our board and an outside lawyer looked at the result and said it's solid."
The outside lawyer hired to review the results, Angela Brandt of the St. Paul-based firm Larson King, is the sister-in-law of the board's spokeswoman.
The resolution being circulated by Bischoff and others call for the resignation of Sombke, Vice President Wayne Soren and Secretary-Treasurer Karla Hofhenke. It's been approved by two of the union's seven regional districts. A third group is expected to discuss the resolution at a regional meeting Saturday in Watertown.
The conflict between the union's board and the faction of members critical of leadership could have broader implications as the organization campaigns for a constitutional amendment to overhaul the State Legislature redistricting process.
If approved, the ballot measure would amend the state’s constitution, adding an independent commission made up of nine registered voters who would draw the state’s voting districts.
“Who are they to talk about election reform when they can’t even conduct their own?” Michael O'Connor, a union member leading the charge to force the top officers' resignation, said. “This insults the integrity of this 100-year-old institution and I can’t believe they allowed this to happen."
But Rick Weiland, former U.S. Senate candidate, and South Dakota Democratic Party Chairwoman Ann Tornberg said the internal conflict at the union likely won't affect the constitutional amendment gaining traction at the polls.
"I don't see that as an issue," Weiland said. "Those are separate issues, it's like apples and oranges."
Bill Pratt, a political historian who has extensively researched the union, said the clash among the group's leaders isn't unique in the state's history, nor to farmers unions generally. Pratt said historically the South Dakota union has been more stable than its counterparts in other states.
"It's not unusual for organizations to have internal disagreements or to have contested elections," Pratt said. "These are not the kind of things that organizations like to share, but it's not that unusual."
Lisa Snedeker, a union membership director from Woonsocket, said the tensions are long-standing but have boiled over recently with the efforts to call a special convention.
"It’s something that’s been slowly eroding over time and now it’s starting to unravel,” she said.
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