Zac McCrary on MUCK YOU!: The South Dakota Senate Race Democrats Should Not Screw Up
Our 2nd Pod for Brian Bengs Week - Campaign Pollster and Advisor, Zac McCrary of Impact Research.
Today on MUCK YOU!, we were joined by Zac McCrary of Impact Research, one of the sharper Democratic pollsters in the country and a longtime student of how campaigns actually work outside the Washington fantasy factory. Listen to the entire episode below.
Zac did not come on to sell magic. He came on to talk math, structure, voters, and the hard truth Democrats often avoid in red states: sometimes the Democratic label is not the vehicle that can win.
That matters right now in South Dakota.
Brian Bengs is running for U.S. Senate as an independent against Republican incumbent Mike Rounds. Bengs is a veteran, attorney, former professor, and former 2022 Democratic nominee. This time, he is not running as a Democrat. He is running as what many South Dakotans actually are: independent, frustrated, and tired of being forced into the same broken red-versus-blue trench war.
As Bengs has put it, his message is simple: “Not Red. Not Blue. Just You.”
That is not consultant fluff. That is the whole theory of the race.
In a state like South Dakota, a Democrat can spend a year proving he is not a caricature. An independent can spend that same year talking about Mike Rounds, corruption, rural hospitals, veterans, working people, and the fact that Washington has stopped listening to normal human beings.
That is why Nebraska matters.
In Nebraska, Democrats appear to understand the assignment. Cindy Burbank won the Democratic Senate primary, but she has said she will step aside in the general election to support independent Dan Osborn against Republican Pete Ricketts. That is not weakness. That is strategy.
It recognizes something obvious: if the goal is to beat a Republican incumbent in a deep-red state, the strongest non-Republican candidate should get a clear shot.
South Dakota Democrats should look hard at that model.
If Julian Beaudion stays in the race, the anti-Rounds vote gets split. That helps Mike Rounds. Period.
If Beaudion steps aside, Bengs becomes the clean alternative: the independent veteran against the Republican incumbent. That is a race people can understand. That is a race donors can invest in. That is a race national media can explain in one sentence. That is a race that gives disaffected Republicans, independents, Democrats, and “I hate both parties” voters permission to land in the same place.
Zac’s larger point was not complicated. Winning red states requires meeting voters where they are, not where national party committees wish they were. In some states, the Democratic brand is an anchor. In those places, the job is not to protect the brand. The job is to beat the bad incumbent.
Brian Bengs can do that.
But only if the race becomes Bengs versus Rounds.
Nebraska may have just shown the way. South Dakota should pay attention.
About the Author
David B. Wheeler is President and Co-Founder of American Muckrakers, the group best known for helping expose Madison Cawthorn and Mark Robinson. He has spent decades building organizations, working across the world, raising hell, and trying to fire fools who badly need firing.
Disclaimer
The views expressed here are those of the author and American Muckrakers. We use public records, public reporting, opinion, satire, and good old-fashioned muckraking to hold powerful people accountable.