 The history of the state's Democratic Party can be condensed into two separate time periods, each marked by a very different national atmosphere and legislative approach to past agrarian policy.1914 was a milestone for the Democrats when they won South Dakota's first senate election by popular vote with their first statewide elected official, Edwin S. Johnson.This was their first success since William Jennings Bryan successfully campaigned (a novelty at the time) for the state's electoral votes in 1896 with help from an agrarian crisis.