Democrat candidate for attorney general profiled
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HURON – A long career as a private attorney and as a prosecutor of hundreds of state and federal cases has led Randy Seiler to want to become South Dakota’s next attorney general.
It’s a decision that stays true to a personal commitment he made decades ago in Vietnam – that when his military service was over, he would come back to his home state and give back to his community and state.
“My career has focused generally along those lines,” he said at the District 22 Democratic Forum on Thursday.
As attorney general, he said his priorities would be addressing drug addiction with treatment and recovery programs, pushing for more state government transparency, streamlining the consumer protection division and keeping South Dakota children safe.
Seiler grew up in Herreid, a small Campbell County town in north central South Dakota. When a major federal court case was tried in the community’s main street theater, he played hooky from school and observed the attorneys argue their positions from a seat in the back row.
“That stayed with me over the years and I’ve just been so impressed in terms of the law as an instrument for social change, the law as an instrument in terms of what it means to us in our society,” he said.
But Seiler said it’s been painful for him to see the rule of law under attack.
“The intersection of law and politics is sometimes a very difficult intersection in terms of balancing one versus the other,” he said.
If elected, he pledges to never play politics with the rule of law.
“I don’t intend to use the attorney general’s office as a platform for higher office,” he said. “I have no political aspirations. I do not plan to run for governor.
“I just want to be your lawyer and do the best job I can representing the people of the state of South Dakota,” Seiler said.
After high school, he enrolled at South Dakota State University, unsure what career path to pursue at that time. He admits he wasn’t a good student. When he was drafted, he joined the Air Force, where he served three and a half years, including one tour in Vietnam.
PHOTO BY ROGER LARSEN/PLAINSMAN
Democratic attorney general candidate Randy Seiler addressed the District 22 Democratic forum on Thursday.