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.
Bosworth admitted that she improperly attested to witnessing signatures on her nominating petitions, but blamed bad advice from her political consultant.
Another candidate in the 2014 GOP Senate field, independent Clayton Walker, faces 12 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.