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• Action within Johnson's party is expected quickly. An open Senate seat is rare in South Dakota, and Republicans have gained an upper hand in the state, controlling the governorship, the Legislature, its other Senate seat and its lone U.S. House seat.
• Brendan Johnson, appointed U.S. attorney in 2009, has never held elected office and faced questions about his father's involvement in the confirmation process. Assets for the younger Johnson include his father's advisers and donor base.
• Herseth Sandlin also has an in-tact network and following in South Dakota, but she could face some problems in a potential primary with Johnson. She opposed to the 2010 Affordable Care Act, a position that is out of step with a majority of party loyalists.
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creased a fee imposed to fund the state's inspection of commercial fertilizer.
• Supporters said the bill was needed to provide extra money for research into when, how much and what kind of fertilizer should be applied to the state's farmland. Opponents agreed with the governor's argument that the fee increase was an unneeded tax in disguise.
• The Senate voted 22-13 in favor of the bill, falling two votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to override the governor's veto. Both chambers adjourned at about 12:45 p.m. CDT after taking care of some other minor business.
• The bill would have raised an estimated $300,000 a year by doubling the 15-cent-a-ton fertilizer inspection fee, with the money going to finance research into commercial fertilizer and manure at the Agricultural Research Station at South Dakota State University.
• But Sen. Corey Brown, R-Gettysburg, said the fee is supposed to be used only to ensure the quality and safety of fertilizer sold in the state. The fee increase would have acted like a tax because the money would have been collected from one group and then given to another program, he said.
• The fertilizer companies that backed the fee increase would have passed on the added cost to farmers who bought their products, he said.
• The measure's main sponsor, Sen. Shantel Krebs, R-Renner, said agricultural

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