Harvey L. Wollman was, for a brief period, the governor of South Dakota. He also held several other prominent positions in South Dakota politics. Including serving as the state's lieutenant governor.
Wollman was a member of the Democratic Party. More than four decades later, he remains the most recent Democrat to serve as South Dakota's governor. He would be held in high esteem on a bipartisan basis over the years. And now bipartisan feelings of mourning have been expressed following his passing.
Wollman died on October 18, 2022
Harvey L. Wollman has died, reported the Grand Forks Herald and CBS.
He passed away at a hospital in Huron, central South Dakota. Precise details about his condition have not yet been made public, other than the natural causes behind his death.
Wollman was first elected to the South Dakota Senate in 1968 and would be re-elected twice. During his Senate career, Wollman served as its majority and minority leader. In 1974, Wollman was running for a different office. South Dakota Governor Richard F. Kneip had tapped him to be his lieutenant governor if he won re-election. Then-sitting Lieutenant Governor William Dougherty opted to challenge Kneip in the Democratic primary, losing badly.
Kneip emerged victorious in the general election. As such, Wollman would become the new lieutenant governor of South Dakota.
Four years later, Kneip was not running for re-election. Wollman ran in the Democratic primary for the nomination to succeed him but lost to State Senator Roger D. McKellips.
However, there would be a little twist in how things ended up going down. U.S. President Jimmy Carter appointed Richard F. Kneip as the United States ambassador to Singapore.
Thus, he resigned several months before his final term as governor of South Dakota expired. And, though he lost his primary bid, Wollman was elevated to the governor for the rest of the year.
Harvey was sworn in as governor by his older brother, Roger Leland Wollman. Roger was chief justice of the South Dakota Supreme Court at the time.
He has since become a federal appeals judge. As governor, Harvey emphasized repealing the state property tax and increasing funding for higher education. Roger D. McKellips would lose the general election to Republican State Attorney General Bill Janklow.
Was a United States Army veteran
Harvey L. Wollman was born in Frankfort, South Dakota. He graduated from high school in nearby Doland, where he was elected president of his senior class. In this role, Wollman met another high school alum when he returned for a reunion. Hubert Humphrey had by that time become a United States senator from Minnesota. He eventually became vice president of the United States and an unsuccessful Democratic nominee for president.
Meeting Humphrey reportedly deeply impacted Wollman and helped inspire his later political career.
Wollman attended what would become Bethel University, now located in Arden Hill, Minnesota, near the Twin Cities. After serving in the U.S. Army, he graduated from Huron College. While studying there, he was also a member of the school's choir. Wollman became acquainted with a fellow choir member, Anne Geigel. Their marriage would last well over 60 years and produce three children.
Wollman took up teaching history at his former high school. He also coached the school's debate team to three state championships. Eventually, Wollman undertook graduate studies at the University of South Dakota and turned to farm.
