Stanford M. Adelstein (born August 19, 1931) is an American politician from the state of

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

. He is a member of the Republican Party. He served in the

South Dakota House of Representatives The South Dakota House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Dakota Legislature. It consists of 70 members, two from each legislative district. Two of the state's 35 legislative districts, Districts 26 and 28, are each subdivided in ...

from 2001 to 2005, and in the

South Dakota Senate The Senate is the upper house of the South Dakota Legislature. It consists of 35 members, one representing each legislative district; it meets at the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre. Composition :''92nd Legislature (2019)'' Officers L ...

from 2005 to 2007 and again from 2008 to 2013.

Early life and education

Adelstein was born in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...

. He grew up in

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...

, but graduated from high school in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

, where there were more opportunities for him to connect with his Jewish heritage. He graduated from the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado s ...

, where he majored in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

and business. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, and then returned to Rapid City in 1957. His family founded the Northwestern Engineering Company, where he worked and eventually took over. He also earned a Graduate of Business Administration degree with honors from South Dakota of School Mines & Technology.

Political career

Adelstein was elected to the

in 2000, and served four years in the House before he was elected to the

in 2005. In 2006, Adelstein was defeated in the Republican primary by Elli Schwiesow. He endorsed the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

nominee, Tom Katus. In 2008, Adelstein regained the seat, defeating Katus and Schwiesow in a three-way race with Schwiesow running as an independent. Adelstein ran unopposed for the South Dakota Senate in 2010 and 2012. In December 2013, Adelstein resigned from the South Dakota Senate due to health reasons.

Personal life

Adelstein is the father of three sons, including

Jonathan Adelstein Jonathan Steven Adelstein is an American political appointee and trade association president. He was nominated to posts by Republican President George W. Bush and Democratic President Barack Obama, serving as a Commissioner of the Federal Commun ...

. Adelstein offered to put up $1.2 million in an attempt to keep the fossils of

Sue Sue or SUE may refer to: Music * Sue Records, an American record label * ''Sue'' (album), an album by Frazier Chorus * "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)", a song by David Bowie Places * Sue Islet (Queensland), one of the Torres Straits islan ...

, the largest

tyrannosaurus rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' live ...

ever discovered, in South Dakota. Ultimately, he was out-bid at the

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

auction in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. Adelstein was featured in the documentary film '' Dinosaur 13'' for these efforts.

Publications

In August 2019, a biography about Adelstein entitled "The Question is "Why?"" by Eric Steven Zimmer was published by Vantage Point Press.

References

External links

Official page
at the

South Dakota Legislature The South Dakota State Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of South Dakota. It is a bicameral legislative body, consisting of the South Dakota Senate, which has 35 members, and the South Dakota House of Representatives, whic ...

Campaign site
*
Biography
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Financial information (state office)
at the National Institute for Money in State Politics {{DEFAULTSORT:Adelstein, Stan 1931 births Jewish American state legislators in South Dakota Living people Republican Party members of the South Dakota House of Representatives Politicians from Rapid City, South Dakota Politicians from Sioux City, Iowa Republican Party South Dakota state senators United States Army soldiers University of Colorado Boulder alumni Engineers from South Dakota 21st-century American Jews