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But what Rosenthal as chairman accomplished in recruiting and assisting legislative candidates, and what the Senate campaign of Thune did in boosting Republican voter turnout, are two key reasons why Republicans are at their strongest level at the state Capitol in 20 years.
Republicans won 75 of the 105 legislative seats. That completes an eight-year turnaround by Republicans, who had been slowly whittled down to the point in the early 1990s that Democrats held the majority in the state Senate in 1993-94.
After sitting out eight years, Rosenthal returned as chairman in the mid-1990s at the invitation of Gov. Bill Janklow after he won his own comeback bid in 1994. Rosenthal worked endlessly to recruit strong candidates and to fill all 105 legislative slots on the ballot, unlike Democrats who left many slots open election after election. Gradually, Republicans rebuilt their legislative majorities in the Senate and the House. They now hold two-thirds majorities in both chambers.
Just as significant, Republicans won nearly every office in the executive branch in the November elections. Before, Democrats had four of the nine elected offices. Now they're down to two. Republicans even hold a 2-1 majority on the Public Utilities Commission, for the first time in decades.
Strong candidates and effective campaigning were two reasons for the Republicans' strength. But further boosting Republicans this year was the get out the vote (GOTV) program that the White House and the Thune campaign put in place for his U.S. Senate contest.
Democrats successfully used GOTV as the final piece of their formula in 1986 to push then-Rep. Tom Daschle past Republican Sen. Jim Abdnor. GOTV provided the difference for the Democrats again in 1996, when then-Rep. Tim Johnson edged Republican Sen. Larry Pressler by about 8,000 votes.
Until the 2002 campaign, Republicans hadn't put together a GOTV program on the same intensive statewide level as the Democrats. The Thune campaign recognized the significance and began GOTV planning two years ago. Likewise, President George W. Bush and top aide Karl Rove saw the potential and helped Thune and Republican Senate candidates across the country develop GOTV programs state by state.
The White House's work resulted in Republicans winning back a majority in the U.S. Senate, despite the narrow loss by Thune to Johnson.
While much of the focus after the Thune-Johnson election was on allegations of election fraud and finger-pointing about why Thune lost, the bigger point was missed.
Thune through GOTV not only made up the 8,000 votes by which Johnson had defeated Pressler, but Thune also nearly offset the heavy registration effort by Democrats among American Indians. In turn, the boost in Republican turnout for the Senate race helped the Republicans running for office lower on the ballot.
Republicans won all but one of the contests for the state's constitutional offices, despite the most intensive television advertising campaign ever in South Dakota in behalf of the Democratic candidates.
Beside Republican Gov. Mike Rounds, elected were six other Republicans: Attorney General Larry Long, Secretary of State Chris Nelson, Treasurer Vern Larson, Auditor Rich Sattgast and two PUC members, Gary Hanson and Bob Sahr.
The Democrats' lone victory was the election of School and Public Lands Commissioner Bryce Healy, who had been deputy commissioner. Even in that contest, Republican Alan Aker came within two percentage points of victory, despite a shortage of money and no statewide television advertising to counter Healy's well-produced television campaign.
Worse for Democrats, three of their statewide incumbents were ousted in the November races: long-time Lands Commissioner Curt Johnson lost in his run for the PUC against Sahr, while PUC incumbent Pam Nelson was beaten for re-election by Hanson and Treasurer Dick Butler was defeated in his run for state auditor by Sattgast.
Sahr, Hanson and Sattgast all were first-time candidates for statewide office.
Now Healy and PUC member Jim Burg are the only Democrats holding statewide office in Pierre.
For Republicans, the near-sweep means Rounds has Republican allies throughout the constitutional offices and the Legislature with whom he can work. It also means the Democrats have fewer offices from which to field challengers against Rounds and new U.S. Rep. Bill Janklow.
Two years ago, some Thune supporters attempted to oust Rosenthal as chairman. When Janklow rose to the challenge, Rosenthal survived.
Now both Thune and Rosenthal will be on the sidelines, after helping Republicans achieve one of their biggest rounds of election victories.
