PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Heading into the November 5 elections none of the three candidates has spent much this summer and fall on their campaigns as they compete for one available seat on the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission.
Libertarian Gideon Oakes reported raising $2,487.68 — including $1,702.68 from himself — while spending $2,484.83, leaving his campaign account with a $2.85 balance as of the October 16 closing date for a pre-general election report.
Democrat Forrest Wilson reported raising $5,545 and spending $5,248, leaving his campaign account with a $297 balance as of the reporting deadline.
Wilson’s account received $2,250 from five Democratic county-level organizations. His campaign also received a donation of yards signs valued at $1,270.15 from the South Dakota Democratic Party.
Republican incumbent Kristie Fiegen meanwhile has raised and spent many times more, according to her pre-general election filing.
Fiegen reported raising $18,651.78 and spending $28,910.54, leaving her campaign account with a $30,494.18 balance as of the reporting deadline.
Her account received $5,175.68 from nine Republican organizations, as well as $3,500 from three political action committees: $1,500 from COTEL, the campaign arm of the South Dakota Telecommunications Association; $1,000 from the South Dakota Action Committee for Rural Electrification; and $1,000 from the campaign arm of Midcontinent Communications.
Fiegen, who currently chairs the commission, has been actively fundraising for several years. She raised $10,501.50 and spent $5,082.92 during the first five-plus months this year, according to her pre-primary report. During 2023, she reported raising $30,650.44 and spending $4,295.37.
