Alumnus hits campaign trail

Jesse Vavreck, a 2008 Augustana graduate, is on his way to political office sooner than he thought. With District 13 incumbent Susy Blake, he is campaigning to be elected a representative S.D.

"I had thought about it down the road, but never imagined I would have the opportunity at this point in my life," Vavreck said.

Along with earning majors in business administration and  computer information systems, Vavreck was also heavily involved with political activism on and off campus. Vavreck was the treasurer of the Augie Democrats, co-founder of Augie for Obama, led a student-voter registration drive for the 2008 election, worked as an intern at Sen. Tim Johnson's congressional office and volunteered at his campaign office.

Currently a Security/Fraud Analyst at Meta Payment Systems and a certified Credit/Housing Counselor, Vavreck values the opportunity to have greater impact on the law-making process.

"Right now there are very few young people who represent us in Pierre," Vavreck said. "One inspiring factor for me was that I wanted to be a part of the law-making process that will inevitably be affecting our generation's future."

Former district representative Bill Thompson was another inspiration for Vavreck.

"He is a good friend of mine and has represented our district for the past eight years," Vavreck said. "When he decided to retire, he wanted to make sure that whoever took his seat in Pierre would be ambitious, hard-working and, most importantly, doing it for the right reasons.  He instilled his confidence in me and I hope to continue his legacy of compromise to do what is right for the people."

Familiar with the campaign process prior to running, Vavreck anticipated the amount of work involved, but not necessarily the extent of it.

"What was unexpected is the lack of sleep," Vavreck said. "I realized when we started this process back in April that it would be time consuming, but there is no real way to describe the magnitude of it unless you run for office yourself."

Alongside him in losing sleep is Vavreck's wife, Mandy.

"The campaign has been an opportunity for us to grow as individuals and together," Mandy Vavreck said. "It has been a learning experience for both of us, but we are also having lots of fun."

Running against Vavreck are Brian Liss and Charlotte Shaw. A main difference in their platforms is their solutions to finding money for education. 

"As candidates, we all say that education is our top priority, but looking at the budget it is easy to see that is not the case," Vavreck said. "We each had a chance to meet with the South Dakota Education Association for an hour to discuss this topic and they decided, based on our answers, that they would endorse me and Susy Blake."

Along with a platform for the issues, a key component to Vavreck's campaign is a team of staff members dedicated to the process.

Campaign treasurer Daniel Prendable has been involved with the Vavreck campaign for about one year now.

"Jesse is a strong candidate because he's honest, accountable and has a great grasp of the important issues," Prendable said. "Jesse is the type of person you want to follow, and he will be an excellent representative in the South Dakota legislature.  I'm proud to be on his team."

Prendable thinks that if elected, Vavreck will raise the level of debate and discussion on issues such as creating an improved infrastructure, capitalizing on our wind energy potential, and how to properly fund education so that South Dakota doesn't just meet the standards of other states, but rather exceeds them.