Embattled South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg is conceding what is readily apparent: He cannot win a second term this year.
The Republican state official, who ran down and killed a pedestrian in September 2020, confirmed Friday afternoon that he will not run for re-election.
Ravnsborg, who has been impeached and suspended—with pay—from his duties as the state’s top law enforcement official, contacted Dakota News Now reporter Austin Goss on Friday to confirm an earlier report that he would not ask the South Dakota Republican Party to nominate him for a second term.
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Ravnsborg did not respond to The Daily Beast’s attempts to reach him, and Mike Deaver, the Salt Lake City public relations strategist who has served as his spokesman, did not respond to a phone call or a text.
Ravnsborg was charged with three misdemeanors following the Sept. 12, 2020, crash on a lonely highway in central South Dakota that killed 55-year-old Joe Boever, who was walking on the shoulder of the road.
Ravnsborg was allowed to leave the scene of the crash by the local sheriff, who assumed the attorney general had struck a deer. The next morning, while returning a car the sheriff loaned him, Ravnsborg said he discovered Boever’s body.
That story was met with widespread skepticism. Agents who investigated the crash and interviewed Ravnsborg told a South Dakota legislative committee they felt he knew he had hit and killed a person. They noted Boever’s shattered glasses were found inside the attorney general’s car, and that his face had smashed against the windshield.
But Ravnsborg has insisted he was unsure what he hit on the north shoulder of U.S. Highway 14. He finally pleaded no contest to two of the three misdemeanor charges, paid a fine and court costs, and agreed to make public statements against distracted driving.
His slap-on-the-wrist penalty drew outrage across the state. Gov. Kristi Noem, a fellow Republican, repeatedly called on Ravnsborg to resign or for the Legislature to impeach him. The South Dakota Police Chiefs and Sheriffs associations and Fraternal Order of Police also said he should step down.
But he declined to do so, holding onto a job that pays almost $10,000 a month, even after revelations of his long history of traffic citations, including a speeding ticket he received days before his trial was set to begin. This repeated flaunting of the law made him a figure of public ridicule and anger, but he would not step down.
The Legislature launched impeachment hearings—the first in the state’s history—in 2021 but then tabled them until the legal case was settled. Ravnsborg resolved that in August 2021 without ever appearing in a courtroom, and reached an out-of-court settlement with Boever’s widow Jenny.
Finally, this spring, the South Dakota House of Representatives voted to impeach him on a 36-31-3 vote, the bare minimum of votes required. The House, with a 62-8 Republican advantage, went against the wishes of Speaker Spencer Gosch, who led a special investigative committee that looked into the fatal crash. Gosch was defeated on Tuesday in a primary as he attempted to move to the state Senate.
Before the convention opens, the state Senate will hold an impeachment trial on June 21-22. It will take a two-thirds vote from the 35 senators to remove Ravnsborg from office. Republicans have a firm grip on the Senate, holding a 32-3 edge.
Marty Jackley, who served as attorney general from 2008-2019, announced last year that he wanted his old job back. He was endorsed by Noem, whom he engaged in a contentious gubernatorial primary in 2018.
But the former foes became allies in trying to remove Ravnsborg from office. On Friday, Jackley told The Daily Beast he was focused on the nomination.
“I have not spoken with Mr. Ravnsborg about the election since I announced I was running for Attorney General,” he said in an email response. “I have been focused on sharing my experience and ways to better protect communities and address violent crime and addiction in SD with Republican convention delegates.”
David Natvig, who attended the University of South Dakota law school with Ravnsborg and was named director of the Division of Criminal Investigation by his longtime friend, announced in May that he would seek the Republican nomination for attorney general. That was seen as an indication that Ravnsborg was giving up the idea of a second term.
Noem’s spokesman, Ian Fury, said the governor would not comment on Ravnsborg’s decision, saying “any questions on the impeachment trial itself should be directed to the State Senate.”
State Sen. Lee Schoenbeck of Watertown, a longtime Republican power and the leader of Senate Republicans, did not respond to multiple requests for a comment.
South Dakota Democrats also took a pass, with Party Chairman Randy Seiler, a former U.S. attorney who ran against Ravnsborg in 2018, declining to comment.
Seiler, who considered a run for governor, said earlier this year he had no plans to run again but would be willing to accept the nomination if Ravnsborg was the Republican candidate. But he said Jackley was a longtime friend and colleague and he would not run against him.
It’s uncertain if the Democrats will nominate a candidate for attorney general. SDDP Executive Director Berk Ehrmantraut did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Some South Dakota residents want to see Ravnsborg held accountable for his actions.
“I would like to see him impeached so that it is on record,” said Ray Oines of Brookings. “Even if he isn’t running it should have some effect on his service career. I don’t think he really deserves to be decorated by the military for his poor driving habits that cost a life.”
“He should be in jail,” said Tammy Nugent of Sioux Falls. “We would if that was us!”
Nick Nemec, a rural Holabird farmer who lives near the scene of the fatal crash, is a former Democratic legislator and Boever’s cousin. He has investigated the crash, attended court and legislative hearings, and served as a family spokesman. He said he thinks Ravnsborg had ulterior motives for this announcement.
“I think it’s kind of a ploy to attempt to avoid a Senate conviction,” Nemec said. “That might be enough for some senators not to vote to convict him. Unless he resigns or is convicted, he will still be the attorney general the day after the trial.”
Ravnsborg’s political career appears to be at an end. He also serves as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves and announced in April 2021 that like “other great Americans,” he was being promoted to colonel.
But Army Reserve leadership put that on hold.
Nemec said he hopes Ravnsborg is impeached and his promotion denied, in part because that would mean lesser retirement pay.
“Maybe I’m vindictive, but I’d like to see him retire as a lieutenant colonel rather than a colonel,” he said.
