Larry Pressler in 2014 SD Senate debate
On Health Care:
Keep ObamaCare in place; we need it
Independent Larry Pressler talked about the need to keep ObamaCare in place. "As a practical matter, we need it. Maybe not in Sioux Falls or Rapid City but out across this state for many of our people. A lot of our people who are minimum wage."
Pressler says his priority is restoring bi-partisanship to Washington. "So rather than repealing ObamaCare--impeaching Obama and all this stuff--I am going to try and work with him."
Source: KSFY/ABC News on 2014 South Dakota Senate debate
Aug 27, 2014
On Civil Rights:
Filed legal brief to overturn S.D.'s gay marriage ban
Both Howie and Rounds oppose allowing same-sex couples to legally marry. The other two candidates in the race, Democrat Rick Weiland and independent Larry Pressler, support gay marriage.South Dakota law restricts marriage to opposite-sex couples,
but that law is being challenged in federal court by several same-sex couples. Pressler filed a brief supporting that lawsuit trying to overturn South Dakota's gay marriage ban. "This court should protect the fundamental right of civil marriage in
South Dakota by ensuring that it is available to same-sex couples," Pressler wrote.
Weiland also supports same-sex marriage, though his campaign has focused on fiscal policy and government reform.
[One pundit noted], "Very conservative people
could come to endorse civil unions by breaking it up and looking at the legal elements of it and saying, okay, we're not going to discriminate against them, and this is a different status, but that doesn't mean they're married."
Source: Argus-Leader on 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Aug 16, 2014
On Energy & Oil:
Immediate increase of 12 cents per gallon in the gas tax
With Congress scrambling for fixes to highway funding because of the near-bankruptcy of the federal Highway Trust Fund, only one of the four U.S. Senate candidates is endorsing an increase in the gas tax.The federal gas tax of 18.4 cents per gallon
was last raised in 1993, and has lost more than a quarter of its purchasing power since that time. As vehicles become more fuel efficient and road construction becomes more expensive, the federal Highway Trust Fund is facing bankruptcy in May.
Former Sen. Larry Pressler, running as an independent, said he would vote for an immediate increase 12 cents per gallon in the gas tax.
"I know any tax increases are politically unpopular, but we absolutely must rebuild our nation's highways, and
we cannot add any more to the national debt," Pressler said in a statement.
Two other candidates didn't rule out an increase in the gas tax, but said other solutions need to be tried first.
Source: Argus-Leader on 2014 South Dakota Senate debate
Aug 2, 2014
On Civil Rights:
Supports gay marriage
Pressler has declared his support for the president's health care law and frequently invites the president to visit the state to lecture on the law. He had previously endorsed Obama for president and talked up his support for gay marriage. He recently
highlighted his support for raising taxes on estates worth more than $10 million and offering a five-year path to citizenship for immigrants who enter the country illegally. "This is my last campaign and I'm saying exactly what I believe," Pressler said.
Source: Rollcall e-zine on 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Jul 24, 2014
On Immigration:
5-year path to citizenship for illegal immigrants
Pressler has declared his support for the president's health care law and frequently invites the president to visit the state to lecture on the law. He had previously endorsed Obama for president and talked up his support for gay marriage. He recently
highlighted his support for raising taxes on estates worth more than $10 million and offering a five-year path to citizenship for immigrants who enter the country illegally. "This is my last campaign and I'm saying exactly what I believe," Pressler said.
Source: Rollcall e-zine on 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Jul 24, 2014
On Principles & Values:
Former three-term Senator; ran for president in 1980
South Dakota Democrats are playing a tough hand in the Senate race, but they thought they could count on a wild card --former Sen. Larry Pressler--to help the contest break their way. Pressler seems to have other plans.
Republicans, who once worried Pressler would peel off support from Rounds, now see his campaign as advantageous to them.
Pressler "is a respected former senator who's trying to run on issues the Democratic candidate is running on," said a senior adviser to South Dakota Republicans.
This is not Pressler's first quixotic stab at public office. He served three terms in the
Senate before losing his seat in 1996, mused about running for mayor of Washington, D.C., and ran a 106-day bid for president in the 1980 election. But Pressler still boasts strong name identification in the state --enough to impact the race.
Source: Rollcall e-zine on 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Jul 24, 2014
On Tax Reform:
Raise taxes on estates worth more than $10 million
Pressler has declared his support for the president's health care law and frequently invites the president to visit the state to lecture on the law. He had previously endorsed Obama for president and talked up his support for gay marriage. He recently
highlighted his support for raising taxes on estates worth more than $10 million and offering a five-year path to citizenship for immigrants who enter the country illegally. "This is my last campaign and I'm saying exactly what I believe," Pressler said.
Source: Rollcall e-zine on 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Jul 24, 2014
On Homeland Security:
First Vietnam vet elected to Congress
Pressler was a Vietnam vet and became the first veteran of that war elected to Congress (in 1974, yes, that's 40 years ago). He was a moderate/maverick
Republican and distinguished himself during the Abscam scandal as the only member of Congress who flatly rejected the fake bribes that were being offered by undercover FBI agents.
Source: MinnPost on 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Jan 2, 2014
On Corporations:
Both parties beholden to corporate backers
In his Senate campaign debut Monday in Rapid City, Republican-turned-independent candidate Larry Pressler promised an end to the gridlock that has crippled Washington and left supporters of both parties apathetic with the two-party system."I think
we can change history in South Dakota and the United States with this campaign," he said. Pressler said he was choosing to run as an independent because he was disgusted by the changes within his former party and the Democratic Party since he left office
He said both parties had become increasingly beholden to corporate backers rather than constituents. He pointed to the influence of the insurance industry on health care reform and the success of military contractors in lobbying for
projects the Pentagon doesn't want. "We have this poisonous, locked political system in place," Pressler said. "And we can't get a budget. We can't get a farm bill."
Source: Rapid City Journal on 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Dec 31, 2013
On Homeland Security:
Significant cutbacks on overseas military spending
Pressler pointed to the success of military contractors in lobbying for projects the Pentagon doesn't want. "We have this poisonous, locked political system in place," Pressler said. "And we can't get a budget."
While Pressler said he was still forming a legislative team to finalize his policy platform, he discussed his priorities at the campaign event.
Among those provisions, he supports significant cutbacks on overseas military spending, rolling back domestic surveillance programs, increasing the minimum wage and raising taxes on the wealthy.
Pressler also said that he would have to rely far more
heavily on grassroots support. However, he said, if elected he would provide a more powerful voice for South Dakota than any candidate from the major two parties.
Source: Rapid City Journal on 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Dec 31, 2013
On Abortion:
Supports abortion law allowing first trimester terminations
Pressler's views on social issues would limit his appeal to many conservatives. He supports South Dakota's abortion law, which allows women to terminate pregnancies in the first trimester.
He voted for the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, but he now supports gay marriage.
Source: Politico.com on 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Nov 14, 2013
On Budget & Economy:
Pay a little more taxes & give up some programs
Pressler strikes a remarkably nonpartisan position on the budget for someone who boasted a fairly conservative voting record in his last term. Pressler is confident Americans would be willing to pay a little bit more in taxes or give up some social
programs to forge a budget agreement. "Most people are talking about this and writing books and articles, but some people have got to start running for office as an independent," he said. "I think this would serve a great public purpose."
Source: Rollcall.com "Comeback Bid": 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Nov 14, 2013
On Civil Rights:
I was wrong to support 1996 Defense of Marriage Act
Pressler voted for the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, but he now supports
gay marriage. "I was wrong, and I have corrected that big time," he said.
Source: Politico.com on 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Nov 14, 2013
On Homeland Security:
1980 presidential run:focus on veteran issues & Agent Orange
Pressler waged a long-shot campaign in 1980, seeking the Republican presidential nomination. His goal then was to draw attention to the plight of Vietnam veterans, including getting help for those exposed to Agent Orange.
He struggled to raise money and discovered that many of his fellow activist veterans were actually Democrats. "I'm glad I did it," he said, "but it was bad political judgment probably."
Source: Politico.com on 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Nov 14, 2013
On Principles & Values:
Non-conventional independent campaign to influence debate
Larry Pressler's bid for Senate as an independent won't look like your traditional campaign. "It would be a non-conventional campaign, a very low-budget," he replied. "I don't know if I'd be able to hire anybody." He said his campaign is running on
an "idealistic concept".It's unclear how much heartburn an underfunded, former Republican who backed President Barack Obama in 2008 would cause for the GOP--especially with national Democrats still in search of a top-tier candidate.
But Pressler hopes his campaign would serve as a conversation-starter and at least influence the debate in the race.
Most of all, Presser said he's "disturbed" by the paralysis of the political system and the inability of Congress to strike a "grand bargain" on the budget.
Source: Rollcall.com "Comeback Bid": 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Nov 14, 2013
On Principles & Values:
1978: first Vietnam veteran elected to the Senate
After serving four years in the House, Pressler in 1978 became the first Vietnam veteran elected to the Senate and went on to serve three terms. Johnson defeated Pressler by 2 points in 1996.A Rhodes Scholar and Harvard-educated attorney,
Pressler said he's spent a lot of time teaching overseas since leaving Capitol Hill, including in China, India, France and Italy. He's kept a home in South Dakota, where he's currently spending the semester teaching at the University of Sioux Falls.
Source: Rollcall.com "Comeback Bid": 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Nov 14, 2013
On Tax Reform:
Rich people willing to pay more taxes to help our country
He thinks a solution to the deficit would be pretty easy to reach if both sides cared more about policy than politics: raise some taxes, close some loopholes, slightly raise the Social Security eligibility age, lower the cost-of-living adjustment and cut
defense spending."I don't meet any rich people who aren't willing to pay slightly more taxes, if it would help our country," he said, criticizing past GOP presidents for running up deficits and Grover Norquist for pushing the no-new-taxes pledge.
Source: Politico.com on 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Nov 14, 2013
Page last updated: Dec 07, 2018