Former GOP US Senate Candidate Annette Bosworth Avoids Jail
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Former South Dakota U.S. Senate candidate Annette Bosworth on Wednesday was sentenced to three years of probation, avoiding any jail time for election law violations during her unsuccessful primary campaign in 2014.
She had faced a maximum punishment of 24 years in prison and $48,000 in fines.
Bosworth, a physician and first-time candidate, was convicted in May of perjury and filing false documents. Bosworth admitted that she improperly attested to witnessing signatures on her nominating petitions, but blamed bad advice from her political consultant.
Bosworth, 43, was a political newcomer in the 2014 race for South Dakota’s vacant U.S. Senate seat, and hoped her ordinary-citizen status would appeal to voters who were frustrated with longtime politicians. She was a sharp critic of the federal health overhaul and pledged not to raise taxes, but wound up finishing with just 6 percent of the vote or fourth of five candidates in a GOP primary won by former Gov. Mike Rounds, who was elected to the seat in November.
She would later blame inexperience for mishandling her nominating petitions.
She was out of the country on a medical mission during the period her petitions were circulating, yet attested to witnessing people signing them. Under state law, the person circulating petitions must witness the signings from registered voters.
Bosworth blamed bad advice from a former attorney and political consultant, Joel Arends. He denied giving bad advice and testified that Bosworth knew what she was doing.
Bosworth’s attorney Bob Van Norman had sought probation, with the conviction wiped away if Bosworth successfully completed it. But he and Bosworth also said they planned to appeal her conviction to the state Supreme Court after sentencing.
She has worried that her conviction could jeopardize her medical license. Felony convictions are grounds for revocation in South Dakota, but not an automatic disqualifier.
Another candidate in the 2014 GOP Senate field, independent Clayton Walker, faces nine felony charges for submitting nominating petitions that investigators allege included names of dead people, fictitious people and Hollywood celebrities.
The Bosworth and Walker cases spurred the South Dakota Legislature this year to change election laws to give the secretary of state the power to audit a random sample of the signatures on petitions from statewide candidates. Before, it could only be done on petitions for ballot measures.
