Adelstein to pull advertising featuring Rounds

By Kevin Woster, Journal Staff Writer | Friday, June 02, 2006

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RAPID CITY — State Sen. Stan Adelstein said Thursday that he would stop running part of a television commercial showing him shaking hands with Gov. Mike Rounds because it could give viewers the impression that the governor is endorsing him in the District 32 Republican primary.

“I’m going to pull that part of the ad,” Adelstein said. “I’ll get it down as quickly as I can. I assured the governor that it would not be up over the weekend.”

Adelstein agreed to pull the ad or at least delete the portion featuring the governor after he was contacted Wednesday by state Republican Party chairman Randy Frederick of Hayti. Frederick said he got involved after supporters of Elli Schwiesow, who is challenging Adelstein in the hotly contested primary, expressed concern that the governor’s appearance in the commercial appeared to be an endorsement.

“I’ve known Gov. Rounds for just about 20 years, and he does not meddle in primaries. He does not take sides,” Frederick said. “In a close election, anything can be construed or misconstrued.”

Frederick said Adelstein immediately agreed to pull or change the commercial.

“It was a relatively short conversation, and that’s that,” Frederick said. “Sen. Adelstein said he didn’t want the governor mixed up in this. He didn’t want any controversy.”

Adelstein said the clip with the governor was shot in the Capitol during the 2006 legislative session. The governor doesn’t speak in the advertisement but is shown working with Adelstein as the senator talks about his work with the governor on behalf of education aid and funding for Rapid City schools.

“There is nothing about Mike’s support, just my job in the Legislature,” Adelstein said. “My purpose is to counter the letters to the editor by (Sen. Bill) Napoli and (Sen. Jerry) Apa that I did nothing and have no influence in Pierre and to specifically reiterate my efforts to get more money for education.”

Adelstein said he didn’t include the clip of the governor to make it appear as if Rounds were endorsing him. “The governor would never endorse in a primary,” he said.

Rounds, who was attending a meeting in Canada this week, recently stopped running one of his own campaign ads because it included footage of former Democratic state Rep. Kent Frerichs of Wilmot. Frerichs said he never signed an agreement to have his image used in a campaign commercial and that he does not endorse Rounds’ bid for re-election.

The clip of Rounds used in the Adelstein advertisement was part of a larger collection of video images shot during the session, Adelstein said. Asked if he intended the governor’s segment for use in the campaign, Adelstein said: “I’m not sure what I was intending, frankly. He (the cameraman) was shooting a lot of footage, just following me around.”

Schwiesow didn’t immediately return a telephone message left on her cell phone Wednesday.

But Adelstein said Schwiesow, who spent time at the Legislature working on legislative issues, might have missed opportunities to shoot similar footage.

“You know, Elli was in Pierre all the time. And I suppose if she had been doing anything else but working on 1215, she could have gotten her picture taken with the governor, too.”

The high-profile District 32 primary, a repeat of the 2004 primary challenge won by Adelstein by 122 votes, has been a bitter battle highlighted by differences on HB1215, a nearly total ban on abortions that was overwhelmingly approved by the Legislature and signed by Rounds.

Adelstein voted against the bill, saying he couldn’t support it without exceptions allowing abortions for rape and incest victims and to protect the health of the pregnant woman. The only exception in the bill is to save the woman’s life.

Schwiesow supports HB1215 and opposes any exceptions other than to save the woman’s life.

Schwiesow, the vice chairwoman of the state Republican Party, is running as a Christian conservative who champions traditional values. Adelstein, who served on Rounds’ transition team, calls himself a Republican moderate who comes closer to mainstream views.

Frederick said the race is too close to call.

“When pigs fly, I’m predicting this,” he said. “These are two strong candidates. They have good, strong followings. They have messages that are very distinct, that don’t overlap very much. We’re looking forward to working with the winner.”

Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com