South Dakota House of Representatives District 34 candidate surveys, 2022
This article shows responses from candidates in the 2022 election for South Dakota House of Representatives District 34 who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.
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- Click here to see Candidate Connection survey responses.
Candidates and election results
General election
General election for South Dakota House of Representatives District 34 (2 seats)
Incumbent Mike Derby and incumbent Jess Olson defeated Darla Drew and Jay C. Shultz in the general election for South Dakota House of Representatives District 34 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mike Derby (R) | 32.8 | 6,350 |
| ✔ |  | Jess Olson (R) | 30.3 | 5,869 |
 | Darla Drew (D)  | 21.4 | 4,149 | |
| Jay C. Shultz (D) | 15.5 | 3,000 | ||
| Total votes: 19,368 | |||
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Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses
Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
Survey responses from candidates in this race
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Darla Drew (D)
Care For Seniors - South Dakota has had a 30-year moratorium on building new nursing homes. Why? This leaves our seniors and their families with unsustainable and expensive care.
Real Leadership - I have eight years of experience on Rapid City Council, re-elected three times. I want to set the tone for a moderate type of government in South Dakota.
Darla Drew (D)
This coverage is not just important for low-income people, plenty of middle-income people need health insurance relief too.
Early Education - I have worked on early education issues in Rapid City and am proud of the work done by the City Council to strengthen under-resourced children with Early Education. The current legislators have been silent on this growing problem for South Dakota. I put my money where my mouth is on this issue. The Readiatrics Book Drive I created and organize has collected 180,000 new and gently used books to put into the hands of young Western Dakota children since 2001. The children take the books home to build literacy with their families.
Care for Seniors - South Dakota has had a 30-year moratorium on building new nursing homes. Why? This leaves our seniors and their families with unsustainable and expensive care. I learned first-hand that my Father, who had financial resources, landed in a half room in a nursing home. It costs approximately $8,000 to $20,000 per month for a month for nominal care? Let’s break this moratorium and let the free market rule.
Darla Drew (D)
As a young person experiencing that much devastation was very traumatic. There were no psychiatric teams who came in to help any of our citizens, some who had lost everything including family members. We got tetanus shots and clean water in jugs. It was a summer of sadness followed by joy when one of my friends or acquaintances was found alive. We all just had to deal with the loss of so many people and the destruction of our town the best way we could.
My Dad was in the National Guard and in the Communications Center that night and said, "all hell broke loose, and the big brass showed up". Dad was a Major at the time, and he was in charge of getting every Guardsman in the state to Rapid City. He was also told to find 200 body bags by morning. Luckily, we are closed to Ellsworth Air Force Base and Dad was able to get the body bags flown into the base by 6am.
I volunteered with my mother and other National Guard Officers wives to distribute clothing through "Save the Children" to the folks who lost everything, including clothes and shoes.
I believe this experience was the inspiration for my community service. I was always part of Rapid City committees and boards before I was elected to the City Council.
Rapid Citians, South Dakotans, and people from across the nation came to retrieve bodies and shovel mud for the entire summer. I will never forget the way we all pulled together under our incredible City leadership.
Darla Drew (D)
See also
More about these elections:
Select a district below to read responses from candidates in those races:
