South Dakota gubernatorial candidate Gordon Howie announced today that he has asked former Sioux Falls mayoral candidate and alderman Kermit Staggers to be his running mate in his bid for governor of South Dakota on the Republican ticket.

Howie held a meeting in the Best Western Ramkota this afternoon to make the announcement; the move was announced earlier this morning in Sioux Falls.

Staggers has served in the South Dakota legislature as well as the Sioux Falls city council.   He has a PhD in American History and is a professor of History and Political Science at the University of Sioux Falls.  Additionally, his bio on his website states:

He also has a Graduate Certificate in Theological Studies from the Sioux Falls Seminary. In 2001 Dr. Staggers received a Fulbright Lectureship at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and the National University Kiev-Mohyla Academy (Kiev, Ukraine) where he taught courses on American government and modern globalization. He has also taught for the University of Maryland in Spain and Germany. Dr. Staggers has served as president of the Great Plains Political Science Association and has contributed scholarly articles to journals and books.

While Staggers’ opponents have sometimes nicknamed him “Dr. No” for his opposition to many city initiatives, some might say that with all the bloat and waste in government, we need someone who can say “No” more often.  Too many elected officials in all levels of government have been too quick to say “Yes” with the taxpayer’s wallets for things not essential or best handled by the private sector.