Peggy Cruse

Peggy Cruse (née Patterson; born December 18, 1934) is an American politician and farmer. Born in Merkel, Texas, as Peggy Patterson, she moved to Pierre, South Dakota, upon wedding her husband. She served on the Associated School Boards of South Dakota and on the Pierre Board of Education. In 1986, Cruse was elected to the South Dakota House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party. While in the House, she advocated strongly for children's issues, including tougher regulations on day cares. She ran for a second term in 1988, although lost to Republicans Michael H. Shaw and Lola Schreiber. Cruse ran for the House again in 2002; however, lost again, placing last in a field of four candidates.

Peggy Patterson^[1] was born on December 18, 1934, in Merkel, Texas.^[2] She was a graduate of Hale Center High School.^[3] She married Max Cruse on June 8, 1954, in Friona, Texas.^[1][3] Together, they had three children: Teryl, Cathy, and Brad. Max died on January 22, 2017, of Alzheimer's disease.^[1] Following their wedding, Peggy moved with Max to Pierre, South Dakota.^[3] In May 1974, Peggy was installed as treasurer of the Pierre Toastmistress Club.^[4]

In June 1966, Peggy Cruse was elected as vice chairman of the Hughes County Democratic Party.^[5] She was then appointed to the Associated School Boards of South Dakota in August 1967.^[6] The following year in September, she resigned from the board; she was replaced by Phyllis Wulf of rural Aurora County.^[7] In June 1977, Cruse was elected to the Pierre Board of Education,^[8] alongside Patricia Adam.^[9] She won re-election unopposed in 1980.^[10] In 1983, Cruse and Adam faced challenges from Don Cleland and Casey Kebach.^[8] Adam won re-election with 1,488 votes; however, Cruse lost to Kebach by a margin of 30.^[11] In the 1986 election to the South Dakota House of Representatives, Cruse challenged incumbents Benny Gross and Bernard Christenson, both Republicans, to represent the 24th district.^[12] In the general election in November, although Christenson managed to hold his seat, Cruse defeated Gross by a 3-point margin.^[13] Cruse was sworn in alongside the rest of the South Dakota Legislature on January 10, 1987.^[14] She was given a perfect voting record for the 1987 session and a 70 percent voting record for the following year by the South Dakota Farmers Union.^[15][16]

While in the House, Cruse advocated for various issues related to children, such as calling for a state commission on children's issues and stricter regulations on day cares.^[17][18] In October 1987, the Local Government Study Commission proposed legislation that, if approved by the legislature, would force the approximately 4,000 unlicensed day cares in South Dakota to register.^[19]: 1B Cruse welcomed the proposal, although criticized the panel for not recommending a state commission for regulating child care issues.^[19]: 4B The proposal passed the House Health and Welfare Committee in a 7–5 vote in February 1988.^[20] In December 1987, the Legislature's Appropriations Committee rejected legislation to abolish the Commission on the Status of Women after the committee's three female members, alongside Cruse, convinced the rest of the committee, who were men, to vote against it.^[21] In March 1988, Cruse formally requested George S. Mickelson, the governor of South Dakota, to appoint a child care commission.^[22]

Cruse ran for re-election in 1988; however, lost to Republicans Michael H. Shaw and Lola Schreiber.^[23] Cruse placed third in a field of four candidates, losing by over 10 points to Schreiber.^[24] The only other Democratic candidate in the race, Tom Fennell, placed last with 18 percent of the total vote share.^[24] Mickelson believed that Cruse's opposition to a ban on corporate pig farming was the root cause of her defeat.^[25] Cruse was succeeded by Shaw, who was sworn in on January 10, 1989.^[26][27] In the 1992 United States presidential election, Cruse endorsed Bill Clinton and served as a member of his campaign's South Dakota committee.^[28][29] She was also delegate for Clinton at the 1992 Democratic National Convention.^[30] In 1993, Cruse was selected as secretary of the South Dakota Senate after Democrats won a majority of seats, a position she served until 1994.^[31][32] In 2002, Cruse again sought to represent the 24th district in the House.^[33] She placed last with 19 percent of the vote.^[34]

A 2002 biography in the Argus Leader listed her occupation as a retired farmer.^[35] In 2018, she was a member of the South Dakota Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias State Plan Work Group.^[36] As of August 2025, she was serving as secretary of the South Dakota Discovery Center, a children's museum in Pierre.^[37]