Amendment H “open primaries” gets dark money from out of state and distorts the truth

An out-of-state nonprofit that hasn’t disclosed its donors is outspending in-state opponents and supporters of an open primaries ballot question ahead of South Dakota’s Nov. 5 election.

Article IV is an issue-advocacy nonprofit in Arlington, Virginia. It has spent $889,145 on large postcards and online advertisements for Amendment H, according to reports filed with the South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office.

Some of the postcards feature images of soldiers with tape over their mouths, along with a claim that Amendment H would “protect veteran voters” who “aren’t able to participate fully in our political process.”

That claim is related to South Dakota’s current primary election system, in which Republicans only allow Republicans to vote, while Democrats allow Democrats and independents.

Amendment H, one of seven statewide questions on South Dakotans’ Nov. 5 ballot, proposes opening up future primary elections and placing all candidates, regardless of party, on a single ballot open to all voters. The top two vote-getters would advance to the general election. In races with two winners, such as state House districts, the top four would advance to the general election.

Some veterans have spoken out against the Article IV postcards, saying they use veterans as props for a political agenda, and also saying veterans are currently able to register for a political party and participate in the party’s primary election. Some of Article IV’s other postcards are more generally supportive of Amendment H and do not mention veterans.

Nobody from Article IV returned messages from South Dakota Searchlight, and the group’s website reveals few details beyond a mission to “improve the health of American democracy by instituting reforms that align citizens’ interests with politicians’ incentives.” The website also describes a form of open primaries as a solution: “Top-4 and Top-5 nonpartisan primaries where everyone, regardless of party, can participate are better than the alternative.”

Some information about the group is available in public IRS documents that nonprofits are required to file. Article IV’s 2022 filing — the most recent one located by Searchlight — said the group had $11 million in revenue and made contributions to primary reform efforts across the country, such as a $12,600 donation to Open Primaries Inc., $342,000 to Oregon Ranked Choice Voting and $400,000 to Utah Ranked Choice Voting.

In-state campaign finance data
Meanwhile, in-state supporters and opponents of open primaries have formed ballot question committees, which are required to disclose donors and additional details about fundraising and spending.

A pro-Open Primaries ballot question committee spent $439,211 on advertising between May and Oct. 15, according to its latest campaign finance report, while opponents spent $18,481.

South Dakota Open Primaries Chair Joe Kirby said his ballot question committee does not have direct contact with Article IV, nor does the committee have control of what the organization advertises.

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That’s “the way the system works,” Kirby added.

“That happens to politicians, too: Outsiders spending money for or against them,” Kirby said, adding that there is a national interest in election reform. “There’s not much you can do about that. Outside interests have a big say in all elections, including the governor and congressional delegation. It’s not unique to our ballot issue.”

In another example of outside “dark money” influencing a South Dakota ballot question this year, supporters of an amendment that would restore abortion rights in South Dakota received $540,000 in donations from Think Big America, an issue-advocacy nonprofit in Illinois.

Article IV spent its own money directly on advertising rather than donating to the Open Primaries ballot question committee. The Open Primaries committee has raised over $750,000 since May, mainly from a group of business leaders in Sioux Falls, while opponents hadn’t broken $100,000 in fundraising a week before the election.

Three-fourths of the Open Primaries ballot question committee’s $777,225 in fundraising came from eight households in southeastern South Dakota.

Those eight are:

$250,000 in total contributions from chair of the committee Joe Kirby and his wife, Jennifer, of Sioux Falls.
$110,000 from Dave Knudson, a Sioux Falls lawyer and former South Dakota lawmaker, and his wife Deanna, who serves as treasurer of the committee.
$103,400 from gas station and convenience store chain Heinz Inc. owner Tom Heinz and wife, Jane Heinz, of Dakota Dunes.
$50,000 from Matt Paulson, of Sioux Falls, owner and founder of MarketBeat.
$25,000 from Dana Dykhouse, of Sioux Falls, CEO of First PREMIER Bank.
$25,000 from Dan Kirby, of Kirby Financial in Sioux Falls and Joe Kirby’s brother.
$25,000 from Nathan Peterson, of Sioux Falls.
$10,000 from Kevin Schieffer, of Sioux Falls, former president of the South Dakota Board of Regents.
Other major contributions include $100,000 from Marc Merill, co-founder and former CEO of Riot Games, in Santa Monica, California, and $25,000 apiece from Avera Health and First PREMIER Bank, both based in Sioux Falls.

Opponents to Amendment H formed the Vote No on H ballot question committee and raised $90,276. The ballot question committee’s largest contribution was $35,000 from James Koehler, an Aberdeen businessman and namesake of the Northern State University Koehler Hall of Fame Field.