Billion resigns as Party Chair; our own Cheryl Chapman will lead

For additional information:
Cheryl Chapman 484-0334
Justin Lena 209-3236


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 2009


BILLION: It's time for new leadership to win back the Statehouse

SIOUX FALLS - South Dakota Democratic Party Chair Jack Billion today (Friday) announced he is resigning his state party position to give the organization a new perspective to winning back the governor's office for the first time in 31 years.

Billion's resignation makes Vice Chair Cheryl Chapman of Rapid City the acting head of the state party until its State Central Committee meets April 25 in Aberdeen for its annual McGovern Day. Chapman said she is considering running for the position in April, but has not yet decided.

"In March, I am turning 70 and it just seems like the right time for myself and the state party to make this shift," Billion, Sioux Falls, said.

Chapman, who was elected chair of the Pennington County Democratic Party in 2006, will turn the gavel over to Justin Lena, vice chair, while acting as the head of the state party. The county party is scheduled to hold biennial elections for officers in April in accordance with party rules.

"We know Cheryl will do a good job of steering the state party through the next few months," Lena said. "On the local level, we have a very deep bench with lots of experienced folks, so we look forward to filling our our executive board with competent leaders," he said.

Billion said that during his tenure "we've turned a critical corner repairing the financial and organizational resources of the South Dakota Democratic Party. We reversed the trend in voter registrations and for the first time in decades, we are growing in strength.

"Right now, we are starting the most intensive grassroots organizational drive since the '70s and I think this party will be in great shape to elect the first Democratic governor since 1978."

Billion, a retired surgeon, served in the S.D. Legislature in the early 1990s and ran for governor in 2006. Chapman operates a consulting firm in Rapid City that specializes in environmental engineering. She was elected to the Pennington County Commission in 1986 and 1990 and served a presidential appointment as principal deputy to the assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy during the President Bill Clinton Administration. While on the Pennington County Commission, she had served as its chair.