Pam Cole

Pamela Merchant Cole (born December 18, 1967) is a graphic designer and former Democratic member of the South Dakota Senate who represented the 7th district from 2009 to 2011. She was also the executive director of the South Dakota Democratic Party from 2020 to 2021.[5][6]

Pamela Merchant Cole
Member of the South Dakota Senate
from the 7th district
In office
2009–2011
Preceded byOrville B. Smidt
Succeeded byLarry Tidemann
Personal details
Born
Pamela Merchant

(1967-12-18) December 18, 1967[1]
Walhalla, North Dakota[2]
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materRocky Mountain College of Art and Design[3]
South Dakota State University[4]
ProfessionGraphic designer

Career

Cole was elected to the 7th district state senate seat in the 2008 election, beating Republican Orville B. Smidt. She served on the Commerce Committee, the Health and Human Service Committee and the Taxation Committee. She lost her seat at the 2010 election, being beaten by Larry Tidemann.[3]

In 2016, she moved from Brookings to Sioux Falls.[5] She was made the executive director of the South Dakota Democratic Party in February 2020,[7] after the party leadership had resigned due to the party misstating its finances and finding itself in debt.[8] In September 2020, Cole announced that the party had been "extremely frugal" in its recent spending and was once again financially stable.[9] She resigned in February 2021 due to personal reasons.[6]

In 2022, Cole filed to run for the at-large B seat on Sioux Falls city council as incumbent Christine Erickson was term limited. She lost to Rich Merkouris, a local pastor.[10][11][12]

Electoral history

2008
2008 South Dakota Senate election: District 7 Democratic primary[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Pam Merchant 1,128 52.03
Democratic Craig A. Tschetter 1,040 47.97
Total votes 2,168 100.0
2008 South Dakota Senate election: District 7 general election[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Pam Merchant 4,940 51.16
Republican Orville B. Smidt 4,716 48.84
Total votes 9,656 100.00
Democratic gain from Republican

2010
2010 South Dakota Senate election: District 7 general election[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Larry Tidemann 4,289 54.15
Democratic Pam Merchant 3,631 45.85
Total votes 7,920 100.00
Republican gain from Democratic

2022
2022 Sioux Falls City Council election: At-large district B general election[12][note 1]
Party Candidate Votes %
no description Rich Merkouris 14,493 56.99
no description Pam Cole 10,936 43.01
Total votes 25,429 100.00

Personal life

Cole married her husband Mike in 2018 and together they have a blended family of five adult children.[4]

Notes
  1. Candidates for Sioux Falls City Council must run without a party designation.[15]

References
  1. "Pamela K. Merchant". South Dakota Legislature. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  2. "About Me". Merchant for Senate. Archived from the original on 30 August 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  3. "Pam Merchant". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  4. "News: Cole to seek Sioux Falls At Large B city council seat". Pam Cole for Council. 10 January 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  5. "Cole named new SDDP director". The Brookings Register. 27 February 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  6. "Executive Director of SDDP to leave position at end of February". South Dakota Democratic Party. 9 February 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  7. "South Dakota Democratic Party hires new executive director". KEVN. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  8. Lisa Kaczke (23 October 2019). "South Dakota Democratic Party leadership resigns amid financial woes". Argus Leader. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  9. Lisa Kaczke (3 September 2020). "Last year, S.D. Democrats were in the red. With new leadership, the party now moves on". Argus Leader. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  10. Trevor J. Mitchell (12 October 2021). "Local pastor, non-profit leader Rich Merkouris files to run for At-Large B council seat". Argus Leader. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  11. Trevor J. Mitchell (10 January 2022). "Former executive director of South Dakota Democratic Party files for At-Large B council seat". Argus Leader. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  12. "2022 Election Results". City of Sioux Falls. 12 April 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  13. "South Dakota State Senate elections, 2008". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  14. "South Dakota State Senate elections, 2010". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  15. "Candidates/Political Committees". City of Sioux Falls. Retrieved 16 July 2022.


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